Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, othewise known by her stage name Shakira, was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her name is a feminine Arabic name that means "thankful". At the age of four she started writing poetry, which would later evolve into songs. Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla Columbia and gained some recognition in the local area. It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza. He quickly became impressed by her talent and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira’s performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums. Her first album, Magia didn’t do very well commercially. Shakira recorded this CD with Sony Colombia in 1991, at the age of 14. In 1996, Shakira went on to release Pies Descalzos which many consider her breakthrough album. It has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. Shakira has since released 4 studio albums, 3 live albums and 4 compilation albums. She has won two Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.
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