No. Shakira was in a relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Pique from 2010 to 2022, with whom she has two sons, Milan and Sasha. They separated in June 2022.

Shakira Biography: The Queen of Latin Music

Q: What is Shakira's real name?

Her full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll. Shakira is Arabic for grateful, reflecting her father's Lebanese heritage.

Q: How many Grammys has Shakira won?

Shakira has won four Grammy Awards, most recently Best Latin Pop Album in February 2025 for Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, plus fifteen Latin Grammy Awards.

Q: What is Shakira's biggest song?

Hips Don't Lie (2006) was her first U.S. number-one single, while Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) became one of the best-selling World Cup songs ever, with 15 million downloads and over 4.5 billion YouTube views.

October 14, 2026

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Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known mononymously as Shakira, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer, and record producer born 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Called the “Queen of Latin Music,” she is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with four Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards, and she brought Spanish-language pop to a global audience long before the Latin boom.

Quick facts

Full name	Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Born	2 February 1977, Barranquilla, Colombia
Nationality	Colombian
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer
Known for	Latin-pop crossover hits (“Hips Don’t Lie,” “Waka Waka”), record-breaking world tours, philanthropy
Partner	Gerard Piqué (2010–2022; separated)
Children	Two sons: Milan (born 2013) and Sasha (born 2015)

Early life and background

Shakira was born on 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, a Caribbean coastal city in Colombia, the only child of William Mebarak Chadid and Nidia Ripoll Torrado (Wikipedia; IMDb). Her father is of Lebanese descent — her paternal grandparents emigrated from Lebanon to New York, where he was born, before moving to Colombia — and her mother has Catalan, Spanish and Italian roots, an ancestry she has credited for the Middle Eastern inflections in her music (Wikipedia). The name “Shakira” is Arabic for “grateful.”

She wrote her first poem at four and her first song, “Tus gafas oscuras” (“Your Dark Glasses”), at eight, inspired by her father’s grief after the death of her older half-brother in a motorcycle accident when she was two (Wikipedia). A school choir teacher once told her she sang “like a goat,” rejecting her for vibrato that was too strong — a rejection she later turned into a trademark (Wikipedia). At ten she won a local talent contest and soon caught the attention of theater producer Monica Ariza, who brought her to Sony Music Colombia executive Ciro Vargas. Shakira auditioned in Bogotá at thirteen and was signed to a three-album deal (Wikipedia).

Career: from Barranquilla to global crossover

Shakira made her recording debut with Sony Music Colombia at fourteen. Her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), sold poorly — the debut moved only about 1,200 copies in Colombia — and she briefly acted in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis before returning to music (Wikipedia).

The breakthrough came with her third album, Pies Descalzos (1995), which reached the top five of the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and eventually sold over 5 million copies worldwide (Wikipedia). Its follow-up, Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998), recorded in Miami with Emilio Estefan as executive producer, topped the U.S. Latin Albums chart for eleven weeks and sold over 7 million copies (Wikipedia).

In 2001 she released her first English-language album, Laundry Service, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum; its lead single “Whenever, Wherever” reached number six on the Hot 100 (Wikipedia). The album made her the best-selling female Latin artist of her era and the first woman to top Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart across four different decades (Wikipedia). The 2005–06 two-album project Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 produced “Hips Don’t Lie,” her first U.S. number-one single, with Wyclef Jean (Wikipedia).

Her 2010 single “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” the official song of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, became one of the best-selling World Cup songs ever — moving 15 million downloads and passing 4.5 billion YouTube views (GuideNetWorth). She has been involved with the World Cup since 2006 and is often described as the tournament’s musical icon (Wikipedia). In July 2026 she co-headlined the first-ever FIFA World Cup final halftime show at MetLife Stadium alongside Madonna and BTS, presented by Global Citizen and curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin (iHeart / NPR).

Her television work includes two seasons as a coach on NBC’s The Voice (2013–2014) (Wikipedia), voice roles in Disney’s Zootopia (2016) and Zootopia 2 (2025), and judging the dance competition series Dancing with Myself (2022) (Wikipedia). In 2020 she co-headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show with Jennifer Lopez.

In January 2023 her “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” collaboration with Bizarrap — written in the wake of her split from Gerard Piqué — set fourteen Guinness World Records, including 63 million YouTube views and 14.39 million Spotify streams in 24 hours (GuideNetWorth). Her 2024 album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in February 2025 — her fourth Grammy (Wikipedia).

The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour (2024–2026) grossed $421.6 million across 86 stadium shows, selling some 3.3 million tickets — a Guinness world record for a Latin artist (GuideNetWorth). In 2026 she was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Wikipedia).

Major achievements

Four Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards, plus seven Billboard Music Awards and thirty-nine Billboard Latin Music Awards (Wikipedia)
One of the world’s best-selling music artists — over 75 million records sold, the best-selling female Latin artist of all time (Wikipedia)
Billboard named her Top Female Latin Artist of the Decade twice — the 2000s and the 2010s (Wikipedia)
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year (2011) (Wikipedia)
Highest-grossing tour ever by a Latin artist — $421.6 million, Guinness-certified (GuideNetWorth)
Founder of the Fundación Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Foundation) in 1997, building schools and funding education for thousands of children in Colombia (InvestorMint); UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Shakira’s Latin crossover story parallels a new generation of Spanish-language global stars — see Bad Bunny’s biography for another artist who took Latin music to the top of the charts.

Personal life

Shakira was in a relationship with Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rúa, son of former Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa, from 2000 to 2010 (Wikipedia). In 2010 she began a relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué; they have two sons, Milan, born in January 2013, and Sasha, born in January 2015 (Wikipedia). The couple announced their separation in June 2022 (Wikipedia). Beyond these publicly reported facts, she keeps her private life out of the press.

Between 2018 and 2023 she fought a high-profile Spanish tax case over alleged unpaid taxes from 2012–2014, settling in November 2023 with a fine of around €7.5 million (Early Magazine). In May 2026 a Spanish court acquitted her in a separate tax-fraud case relating to the 2011 tax year and ordered the treasury to refund her roughly €60 million (about $70 million); Spain’s tax agency appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, so the money had not been paid at the time of writing (InvestorMint).

Net worth snapshot

Shakira’s net worth is estimated at $300–$350 million as of 2026, anchored by the current $350 million figure from Celebrity Net Worth and a $300–$350 million range from InvestorMint (GuideNetWorth; InvestorMint). No Forbes, Bloomberg, or Hurun static net-worth figure exists for her — Forbes instead tracks her annual earnings, logging $105 million in 2025 pre-tax earnings and ranking her sixth among the world’s highest-paid musicians (Forbes Africa). See the full breakdown, including the Hipgnosis catalog sale and the record-breaking tour, in Shakira’s net worth profile.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shakira’s real name?

Her full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll. “Shakira” is Arabic for “grateful,” reflecting her father’s Lebanese heritage (Wikipedia).

How old is Shakira?

Shakira was born on 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia, making her 49 years old as of 2026 (Wikipedia).

How many Grammys has Shakira won?

Shakira has won four Grammy Awards — most recently Best Latin Pop Album in February 2025 for Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran — plus fifteen Latin Grammy Awards (Wikipedia).

Is Shakira married?

No. Shakira was in a relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué from 2010 to 2022, with whom she has two sons, Milan and Sasha. They announced their separation in June 2022 (Wikipedia).

What is Shakira’s biggest song?

“Hips Don’t Lie” (2006) was her first U.S. number-one single, while “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” became one of the best-selling World Cup songs ever, with 15 million downloads and over 4.5 billion YouTube views (Wikipedia; GuideNetWorth).