The day I met Shakira – Juliana’s goosebump moment

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Shakira, one of the most influential artists in the world

When the need arises to put a name and a face to female pop in Spanish, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, better known simply as Shakira, immediately comes to mind.

Born in the Colombian city of Barranquilla, Shakira managed to achieve several records in terms of record sales and because of this and because of the brand she managed to create for herself, she is considered one of the world’s best known artists today.

Since her beginnings, the impact that this singer began to generate was such that her concerts were sold out months in advance, her albums sold millions of copies and thousands of letters arrived from her fans. Undoubtedly, she is one of the Latin artists with fans in every corner of the planet.

The beginnings of Shakira

Shakira’s beginnings are like those of several artists: a special predisposition towards writing, singing, and dancing that she first exhibited intimately to her family and then moved to the stages of school and a famous local television contest, in this case, “Buscando al Artista Infantil”, broadcasted by the regional network Telecaribe. Shakira would win the contest consecutively for three years.

Of course, from there, with a talent that was very evident, even the executive of Sony Colombia gave the young girl with a unique voice and swaying hips her coveted first contract, which required the recording of three albums.

With an elusive luck at the beginning of her solo adventure, Shakira would have her revenge about five years later, in 1996, when the album “Pies Descalzos”, “¿Dónde estás corazón”, “Estoy aquí” and “Un poco de amor”, among others, began to sound really strong on the radio and the dream of recognition was already a reality for this Colombian, who still has no ceiling in terms of worldwide popularity.

In her next albums, “¿Dónde están los ladrones”, “Servicio de Lavandería”, “Fijación Oral 1”, “Fijación Oral 2”, “Loba” and “Sale el Sol”, Shakira matured and showed the winning artist she is today: more hits, awards, presentations in popular and outstanding events, as in the last World Cup in South Africa where she was the main voice. This added several zeros to her bank account.

But just as the millions come pouring in, many of them also have a solidarity destination: the “Pies Descalzos” Foundation, founded in 1995 by Shakira herself and whose fundamental mission is to help the most disadvantaged children in Colombia and Latin America.