Translated from the original Spanish article. Read in Spanish
Shakira has a bronze statue more than six meters tall in her city, Barranquilla. But her first album sold just about a thousand copies.
These are ten things you probably didn't know about the world's most famous Colombian. Number one is a record no Hispanic artist had ever achieved.
10. Her name means "grateful"
Her full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll. Shakira is an Arabic name meaning "grateful".
Her father, William Mebarak, is of Lebanese descent. That's why, since childhood, Shakira grew up between Colombian and Arab culture. That's where something that made her famous worldwide comes from: belly dancing, which she learned as a child.
9. Her first song, at age 8
She wrote her first song at eight years old. It was called "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses"), inspired by her father, who wore dark glasses to hide his sadness after the death of one of his sons.
8. "Magia", the first flop
At thirteen she signed with Sony and recorded her first album, "Magia". She was still in school. And it was a flop: it sold around a thousand copies.
Her first album, "Magia", sold around a thousand copies.
7. "Peligro", the second flop
Her second album, "Peligro", didn't work either. She was just sixteen, with two flops in a row. Today, she herself doesn't consider those first two albums part of her official career.
6. "Pies descalzos" changed everything
She tried once more. In 1995 "Pies descalzos" came out, and this time everything changed: Shakira became a star across Latin America.
Two years later, under the same name, she created the Pies Descalzos Foundation, which builds schools for children in Colombia. In 2003, UNICEF named her a goodwill ambassador.
5. She learned English to conquer the United States
To conquer the United States, she learned English and started writing songs in that language. She has said she studied by reading poetry and the lyrics of her favorite musicians.
In 2001 she released "Laundry Service", with "Whenever, Wherever", and became a global star.
4. "Hips Don't Lie", number one
In 2006, "Hips Don't Lie" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It was her first number one in that country.
3. "Waka Waka"
In 2010 she sang "Waka Waka", the song of the South Africa World Cup. It's considered one of the most successful World Cup songs in history, and its YouTube video has billions of views.
2. The Super Bowl and the records with Bizarrap
In 2020 she performed at the Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez, one of the most-watched stages on the planet.
In 2023, her song with Bizarrap broke several Guinness records, including the fastest Latin song to reach one hundred million views on YouTube.
1. The highest-grossing tour by a Hispanic artist
Her "Las mujeres ya no lloran" tour grossed, according to reports, about 421 million dollars, with more than three million tickets sold. Guinness recognized it as the highest-grossing tour by a Hispanic artist in history.
About 421 million dollars: the highest-grossing tour by a Hispanic artist, according to Guinness.
And in Barranquilla, the city where it all began, she's remembered with that statue showing her dancing, with a skirt that ends in the shape of ocean waves. From selling a thousand records to becoming a legend.
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Sources (in Spanish)
- Nombre, significado y origen libanés: Wikipedia (Shakira) y Superlike.
- «Tus gafas oscuras»: Wikipedia en español (Gafas oscuras).
- «Magia» y sus ventas (entre 1.000 y 1.200 copias): Wikipedia (Magia, álbum de Shakira).
- «Peligro», «Pies descalzos» y Fundación Pies Descalzos: Wikipedia.
- «Hips Don't Lie», número uno del Billboard Hot 100 (2006): Billboard y Wikipedia.
- «Waka Waka» y Super Bowl LIV (2020): Wikipedia (List of Shakira records and achievements).
- Récords Guinness con Bizarrap (2023): Rolling Stone y Guinness World Records.
- Gira «Las mujeres ya no lloran» (unos 421,6 millones de dólares, unos 3,3 millones de entradas y récord Guinness): Yahoo / Guinness World Records y Fresno State.
- Estatua de Barranquilla (6,5 metros, diciembre de 2023): Infobae y Alcaldía de Barranquilla.
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