Some quick facts about Shakira
Occupation: Singer/ songwriter/ Actress1
Date of Birth: February 2, 1977
Weight: 106 Ibs
Height: 5'2"
Fun Facts about Shakira
Shakira doesn't eat candy
Shakira doesn't drink alcohol2 or drink coffee
Shakira doesn't smoke
Shakira's favorite thing to paint is “fried3 eggs”
Hate to wear jewelry
Shakira has been coming up on you- the Grammys, the MTV Video Awards, those Pepsi spots4. The fast rise of Shakira's star is one of those Latin American legends5.
Shakira was born in the city of Barranquilla6, Columbia. She's a genius who wrote her first song at the age of eight. When Shakira was 13, she headed to Bogot to become a model. Instead of a modeling contract7, shakira ended up8 with a recording contract for Sony music Columbia.
In 1991, at the age of 14, Shakira released9 her first album, Magia (Magic).The CD didn't do very well and neither did her follow-up album, Peligro(Danger). 1n 1995, she came back. Her third album Pies descalzos (Barefoot) sold over one million copies in Brazil.
Shakira co-produced her following album Donde estan los ladrones with Emilio Estefan and the album went multi-platinum10 in the US, Latin-America and platinum in Spain. Then came a Grammy and two Latin Grammys, the key TV appearances. This album made her the major force behind Latin Pop-Rock, and the star.
“I was born and raised in Columbia, but I listened to bands like Led Zeppelin, the Cure, the Police, the Beatles and Nirvana,” said Shakira. “I was so in love with the rock sound but at the same time because my father is of 100% Lebanese11 son, I am devoted to Arabic tastes and sounds. Somehow I'm a mix of all of those passions and my music is a mix of elements that I can make coexist in the same place, in one song.”
Shakira's latest and first English-Language CD, Laundry12 Service, is a huge success in North America. “I think I am celebrating life more than ever,” said Shakira. “I had a slightly narrow vision of love. I fell washed clean of the way I looked at things in the past, which is why I am calling the album Laundry Service”
The most extraordinary thing about Laundry Service is the way she was able to translate her Latin American feelings into a new language. “I had to find a way to express my ideas and my feelings, my day to day stories in English. So I read poetry, and authors like Leonard Cohen and Walt Whitman,” she said. “It's impossible not to write about love. It's the great mystery of life. I would feel love in Spanish but I would think about now to express that love in English. Afterwards that became such a natural process.”
As her countryman, Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Marquez wrote, “Shakira's music has a personal stamp13 that doesn't look like anyone else's and no one can sing or dance like her, with such an innocent14 sensuality15, one that seems to be of her own invention.”
Though a mixture of many music passions, Shakira is first of all the true lover of ROCK. “I know that rock and roll is never going to die.” said Shakira.
夏奇拉就这样来了——随着格莱美奖、MTV大奖、各种百事广告扑面而来。夏奇拉迅速窜红的星路又是一个拉美的传奇故事。
夏奇拉出生于哥伦比亚的巴兰基利亚，一个8岁就写出了第一首歌的音乐神童。13岁时，她来到波哥大，想成为一名模特，结果却与哥伦比亚索尼公司签下了一纸录音合约。
1991年，14岁的夏奇拉发行了首张专辑《神奇》。这张唱片和随后的专辑《危险》都成绩平平。1995年，她东山再起，第三张专辑《赤足》在巴西销量超过了100万。
随后夏奇拉与他人合作了专辑《小偷在哪里》，这张唱片获得了美国和拉美地区超白金奖以及西班牙白金奖。随之她又赢回了一项格莱美和两项拉丁格莱美，并在电视上屡屡亮相。这张专辑奠定了夏奇拉拉丁流行摇滚的主力地位，也造出了这颗新星。
“我在哥伦比亚出生长大，但我一直听乔普林、疗救乐队、警察乐队、披头四和涅磐的歌。”夏奇拉述说：“我爱极了摇滚，同时由于我父亲是个100%的黎巴嫩后裔，阿拉伯的音乐风格也让我陶醉。怎么说呢，我就是这些激情的混合体吧，我的音乐也是这一切的融合，它们在一首歌里可以相得益彰。”
夏奇拉最新也是第一张英文专辑《洗衣服务》在北美大获成功。她认为自己在比以前更好地感受生活：“我以前对爱的理解比较狭隘，现在觉得自己‘清洗’了过去看问题的方式，所以这张专辑命名为《洗衣服务》。”
非同寻常的是，在《洗衣服务》里，夏奇拉使用一种全新的语言表达了她拉美式的感性。“我得寻找一种用英语来表达我的情感思绪和日常生活的途径。于是我开始读英文诗，包括科恩和惠特曼的作品。写歌不可能不写爱，爱是一生的谜。我靠西班牙语感受爱，但现在却得想如何用英语来表达爱。渐渐地，这个过程就变得自然而然了。”
正如她的同胞，诺贝尔文学奖获得者加西亚·马尔科斯所写的那样：“夏奇拉的音乐打上了鲜明的个人烙印，她的歌她的舞都不同于任何人，那份纯真的性感或许正是她独有的特质。”
虽然夏奇拉是多种音乐激情的混合体，但她首先是一名摇滚人。“我知道摇滚是不死的。”夏奇拉如是说。