Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripolli was born February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her mother is half Colombian and half Italian and her father is American with Lebanese ancestry.
Shakira has been described as the ‘Latin Alanis Morrisette?’ and her music is a fusion of pop, rock with some Latino influences thrown into the mix. Her hits include ‘Underneath Your Clothes’ and ‘Eyes Like Yours’, she writes all her own material and although she was intended to enter into the pop genre by her record company she resisted and followed her own musical aspirations.