Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia; better known as Shakira) is a five-time Grammy winner Latin pop singer and songwriter.
Shakira was born in a Roman Catholic family, to a mother of Spanish and Italian descent and an American-born father of Lebanese background. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker, and has sung in English, Portuguese, Arabic, and French, with varying success.
She was received by Pope John Paul II who nominated her a Goodwill ambassador in 1998.
Shakira began writing and composing music at the age of nine. One of the first songs she had written was "Tus Gafas Oscuras", and its lyrical message revolved around her father and his grief over a son who had passed away due to a car accident. At the age of ten, Shakira applied for her school choir, but she was rejected because her voice had been noted as "too strong." Friends teased her by saying she sounded like a goat. Shakira was deeply hurt and considered giving up on singing, but instead of that she started looking for other singing opportunities. She decided to compete in a weekly television singing competition for children, Vivan Los Niños. Shakira won the contest.
Between the ages of ten to thirteen, Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla, and became a local celebrity. At that time she met local theatre producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with Shakira and helped to make her known outside Barranquilla. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá, Ariza happened to be sitting next to Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas. Vargas agreed to hold an audition for Shakira, which took place a few weeks later in a hotel lobby. Vargas was impressed and returned to the Sony office and gave Shakira's cassette to the song and artist director, but he was not excited at all, and thought Shakira was "a lost cause."
