10 things about Barranquilla native Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is a Colombian singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, model, actor, philanthropist and businesswoman. She was born in Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia.

BIOGRAPHY

Ripoll is mononymously known as Shakira, which is Arabic for grateful. She is the only child of William Mebarak Chadid and Nidia Ripoll Torrado. 

Born in New York City, United States to Lebanese immigrants, Chadid moved to Colombia when he was 5 years old. Nidia is of Spanish and Italian descent.

Shakira is 5’2″ tall. She is a mother of two.

As a musician, Shakira is known for her songs “La Tortura,” “Loca,” “Chantaje,” “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Beautiful Liar,” “Whenever, Wherever,” “Underneath Your Clothes” and the official 2010 FIFA World Cup song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” Here are 10 more things about her:

1. In 1990, she moved from Barranquilla to Bogota, Colombia to pursue modeling but it did not materialize but in the same year, she recorded her debut album “Magia” with Sony Music Colombia.
2. In 1993, she competed and finished third in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile where Ricky Martin, then 20, was one of the judges.
3. In 1994, she played Luisa Maria Rico in the Colombian soap opera “El Oasis,” which aired on Cenpro TV and marked her acting debut.
4. In 1997, she founded the Colombian charity Pies Descalzos Foundation, which provides poor children all around Colombia with special schools and was named after her third studio album “Pies Descalzos”.
5. From 2000 to 2010, she dated Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rua.
6. In 2007, she disguised as a boy to attend a history class called Introduction to Western Civilization: Ancient Civilizations from Prehistory to Circa A.D. 843 at the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, USA.
7. From 2010 to 2022, she was in a relationship with Gerard Piqué, who was born in Barcelona, Spain exactly 10 years after her birth.
8. In 2013, she became a mother.
9. In 2015, she gave birth to her second child.
10. On February 2, 2025, she turned 48.

TIMELINE

Shakira and Piqué first met in 2010 when he appeared in the music video of “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” They have two children namely Milan Piqué Mebarak and Sasha Piqué Mebarak.

2010s

• On January 22, 2013, she gave birth to Milan.
• On January 29, 2015, she gave birth to Sasha.
• She voiced Gazelle in the animated film “Zootopia,” which premiered at the Brussels Animation Film Festival in Belgium on February 13, 2016.

2020s

• On November 20, 2023, she paid a €7.5 million fine after being accused of failing to pay taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014 while living in Barcelona with Piqué. 
• On March 22, 2024, Sony Latin released her 12th studio album “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran“, which was primarily inspired by her experiences surrounding her breakup from Piqué.