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Tract
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Whenever,
Wherever
La Tortura 3:52
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Laundry
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Fijacion
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Shakira
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Shakira at Live 8
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, born in Barranquilla,
Colombia on February 2, 1977, known simply as Shakira (meaning "Woman
of Grace" in Arabic), is an internationally famous singer and songwriter.
Biography
Shakira was born to a Lebanese father and a Colombian-Italian mother,
and moved to Bogotá at the age of thirteen. She released her first
album, Magia (Magic), one year later, on the Sony label. The album was
only moderately successful, and Peligro (Danger), her second album, was
no better received.
Shakira turned to acting and played a role in a Colombian telenovela ("El
Oasis"), but failed as an actress. Shakira then returned to the music
business in 1995 with the album Pies Descalzos (Barefeet), which established
her commercial success. The hit "Estoy Aquí" became known
internationally. The Remixes was created and featured remixes from the
songs on Pies Descalzos, with some songs redone in Portuguese.
Following this, Shakira met Emilio Estefan, Jr., who would become the
executive producer of her next album. ¿Dónde Están
Los Ladrones? (Where are the thieves?) was a huge production which cost
over US$3 million. It was a huge hit which gained wide critical acclaim
and which many consider to be her best album ever. Most notable singles
from the album are "Inevitable" and the worldwide mega-hit,
"Ojos Así". The album's successful blend of rock and
Latin soundscapes made it an immense success. Shakira also produced Shakira
MTV Unplugged, a live album based on ¿Dónde Están
Los Ladrones?.
Shakira next turned her sights towards the English-speaking market, improving
her English enough to begin writing Laundry Service. With a more rock-edged
feel, Laundry Service was aimed at the international English-speaking
market, even though it contained some Spanish songs. Some people said
that Shakira's English skills were too weak for her to write in English,
but Laundry Service was nevertheless a big hit, best known for the infectious
single "Whenever, Wherever" (English version of "Suerte"),
and for being one of the top albums of 2002. Shakira is well known for
intense, athletic live performances involving belly dancing, Arabic rhythms
and other sensual movements.
In 2002, Shakira also released the greatest hits volume Grandes éxitos.
Shakira: Live & Off the Record, a DVD and a 10-song CD from her 2002-03
world tour (the "Tour of the Mongoose"), was released March
30 2004. "The Tour of the Mongoose" was called so because of
the fact that mongoose can defeat a cobra without being killed by its
poison. The concerts were interspersed with visuals of a mongoose fighting
a cobra.
Shakira is currently finalizing the details of her next project. This
body of work will be released in two parts. The first album, Fijación
Oral 1 (released in June 2005), followed by Oral Fixation 2, (which will
be released in November 2005). She co-writes and co-produces her songs
with Luis Fernando Ochoa and Lester Méndez. Vocal co-compilation,
as well as direction of background vocal sessions by Rita Quintero.
Shakira is considered by many to be a great talent. As Gabriel García
Márquez once wrote of her, "Shakira's music has a personal
stamp that doesn't look like anyone else's and no one can sing or dance
like her, at whatever age, with such an innocent sensuality, one that
seems to be of her own invention."
Since 2000, she has been engaged to Antonio de la Rúa, the son
of the former President of Argentina. In light of the humanitarian and
social crisis in Argentina, many members of the press lampooned the relationship
as frivolous and arrogant. In response, Shakira gave a nonprofit concert
in Buenos Aires and further promoted her humanitarian children's foundation
"Pies Descalzos" (Bare feet), named after her third album. This
was decried by many as a simple celebrity public relations move.
Current album
It was announced April 8 2005 that Shakira would be releasing two albums
this year. Fijación Oral 1, a Spanish-language album, was released
first in Ireland on 3 June 2005, the rest of the EU on 6 June and then
on June 7 in the U.S.A, 2005, and Oral Fixation 2, an English-language
album, is scheduled to hit store shelves in November. The first single
off Fijación Oral 1, La Tortura (The Torture), features Spanish
pop-star Alejandro Sanz and Menfis Arancibia, the future pop queen.
The April 26 episode of MTV's "Making the Video" showed behind-the-scenes
clips of "La Tortura" and ended with the premiere of the video.
This was notably the first time the show had been aired entirely in Spanish
(with English subtitles).
Charts
The video for "La Tortura" made its debut on Total Request Live
(TRL) at number nine, and was the first Spanish music video ever to be
included in the countdown. It reached a peak of number four on the countdown,
pushing the record even further.
Fijación Oral 1 was simultaneously released in all of Latin America
and charted at number one in almost all of its countries. In the United
States it charted at number four on the Billboard 200 and is currently
the best-selling Spanish first-week sales album (157,000), breaking Ricky
Martin's self-titled album (charting number twelve, selling 65,000). It
was also well-received in non-Spanish speaking countries like Germany,
where it reached number one, and Canada, at number seven.
Also, Shakira's "La Tortura" has been achieving success on the
Yahoo Music Countdown and VH1 Top 20 Countdown.
This article about Shakira is posted under the GNU Free Documentation
License. It uses material from this Wikipedia
article.
Shakira music CDs and Live 8 DVDs.
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