Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born: February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, (pronounced /ʃəˈkiːrə/ in English, ‭[2]), is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s.

According to the United World Chart, Shakira is as of 2008 the 4th most successful artist so far for the last decade, in terms of single sales. She is also the only artist to have two songs in the top ten of the most successful singles since 1999.