Shakira
Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia.
She's an only child, to her parents William Mebarak Chadid
and Nidya del Carmen Ripoll Torrado (of Lebanese, Italian
and Spanish descent). She has 8 half-siblings from her dad's
previous marriage. Her name means "thankful" in
Arabic, being the feminine form of the name Shakir. Her middle
name, Isabel, means "my God is abundance" and it's
also the Spanish form of Elizabeth.
Shakira started writing poetry at an early age (she wrote
"The Crystal Rose" when she was four). She watched
her father write stories on an old typewriter, and got one
as a Christmas gift. She continued to write poetry, which
evolved into songs. Her first song was called "Your Dark
Glasses", about her father and his grief from his son's
death in a motorcycle accident.
At age four, Shakira and her father went to a Middle Eastern
restaurant, where she heard Arabic musicians and saw belly
dancers for the first time. Little Shakira danced on the table
and the crowd loved it- from then on, she knew she wanted
to be a performer. She enjoyed singing and dancing for her
teachers and school friends, but was not chosen for the school
choir because her voice was too strong. She did belly dance
numbers at school, earning her admiration from friends and
teachers alike.
When she was eight, Shakira's father was forced to declare
bankruptcy. While the family dealt with that, she moved to
LA to stay with relatives. Upon her return to Colombia, she
found that most of the family's assets had been sold, but
her father took her to a local park, where she saw a lot of
homeless people, and she knew that things could be a lot worse.
That made Shakira promise to become famous so she could help
homeless children.
Between ages 10 and13, Shakira went to various events in
and around Barranquilla and gained local fame. She met producer
Monica Ariza, impressing her with her singing and dancing
ability. Ariza convinced Sony executive Ciro Vargas to let
Shakira audition (said audition took place in a hotel lobby).
Vargas passed Shakira's demo tape to a song director at Sony
Colombia, which resulted in Shakira being signed to a three-record
deal with the company. Shakira has gone on to worldwide fame,
crossing language barriers with her music, which is a blend
of Latin and Middle Eastern rhythms and rock sound.
|
