With the late 2001 release of her first English-language album, Laundry Service - and its irresistible debut single "Whenever, Wherever" - Shakira revealed a diverse sound punctuated with sultry pop melodies, twangyInl spaghetti-western guitars, new wave rock rhythms and crackling Latin undercurrents. Shakira is such a phenomenon in the Latin world, Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez rhapsodized: "Shakira's music has a personal stamp that doesn't like anyone else's, and no one can sing or dance like her, at whatever age, with such an innocent sensuality, one that seems to be of her own invention."īMI's Barbara Cane (left) is shown congratulating BMI songwriter/artist Shakira on her success prior to the taping of MTV's "Icons" show in Los Angeles. Her Spanish-language recordings have been certified platinum in the U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Central America, Mexico and Spain, and she's already nabbed a Grammy, two Latin Grammys, four BMI Latin Awards and a BMI Songwriter of the Year honor. fans have only recently become aware of the singer, 24-year-old Shakira is actually a Latina legend who signed her first recording contract at age 13.
If a team of scientists were commissioned to build the perfect pop star, chances are the result would bear a striking resemblance to Colombian singing sensation Shakira.Ī bona fide pop wunderkind, Shakira is what you get when you combine beauty, talent, sensuality and intellect.