Celebrating The World Famed Colombian-Lebanese Musician: A Recap Of Shakira’s Top Moments
On Feb. 2, the world celebrates Shakira’s birthday whose music has reached a number of people across the world. The artist is Colombian of Lebanese descent, her father William was born in New York City to a family from Lebanon. Throughout her career, she has received 10 Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy Awards as well as appeared on The Voice’s first season as a coach. To highlight her accomplishments, we’ve put together a list of all the times she got the crowd either talking or moving.
World Cup song
This song is unquestionably familiar if you’re a die-hard football fan. This is Shakira contributing to making the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa memorable for everyone, Shakira along with the South African band Freshly Ground gave an amazing performance in the song’s official music video clip. The song continues to be quite popular today since people frequently associate the singer with it. The beat of the song, which was influenced by Afro-fusion and soca, gave it an unstoppable joyous, and exuberant flair. The lyrics also included Spanish and English, making it accessible to Hispanic and English speakers everywhere in the world.
Pique’s divorce
On June 4, 2022, Shakira and Gerard Pique (the Barcelona defender) announced their split in a joint statement. They wrote to their fans, “we regret to confirm that we are separating. For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we ask that you respect our privacy.” The couple began dating in 2011, but in June, reports surfaced that Shakira caught the professional athlete having an affair, and found out about it because of a jar of strawberry jam. Things didn’t stop at this as her new song, a collaboration with Argentinian producer Bizarrap titled “BZRP Music Session #53,” is packed with inventive jabs at Piqué.
Whenever, wherever…we’re meant to be together
Composed by Tim Mitchell, “Whenever, Wherever,” is one of Shakira’s biggest hits. The song also exists in Spanish under the title “Suerte.” In the song, Shakira describes the love between two people who live far from each other. Partly due to this song, Shakira became known all over the world, the song is about a couple who love each other and are willing to do whatever it takes to be together. In 2002, ‘Whenever, Wherever’ found itself in the Hot 100’s top 10 in the billboard charts where it peaked at #6 that year. This chart triumph marked a first for Shakira.
Super Bowl
In an interview with Insider, Jennifer Lopez expressed that sharing one of the biggest performances of her life with Shakira was “a beautiful thing” because they’re “both moms and both Latinas…not exactly what you would expect at the Superbowl halftime show.” While preparing for the event, as documented in her 2022 Netflix documentary film “Halftime,” Lopez said it was “the worst idea in the world” for the NFL to ask two performers to share the headlining spot at one of the biggest musical events of the year. However, the performance proved a success and included guest appearances by Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Lopez’s daughter Emme Muñiz.
Collaborating with Rihanna
Shakira’s collaboration with hip-hop artist Rihanna was also a big milestone in her career as they are a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. To see two big icons collaborate on a song, titled “Can’t Remember To Forget You” caused a real excitement for fans. The song’s official video clip saw both artists dance and sing to some catchy lyrics that explore the idea of having that one lover that you just can’t shake or get out of your life, no matter how hard you try.
Collaborating with Beyoncé
Before collaborating with Rihanna, Shakira had an interesting collaboration with Beyoncé on the song “Beautiful Liar” which achieved tremendous success. Shakira’s performance and dance in the official video clip made fans eager to witness her future success and further showcased her killer dance moves. A huge commercial hit, “Beautiful Liar” peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Beyoncé’s ninth top-ten single and Shakira’s fourth. Up until Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” the following year, it also held the record for the biggest jump in the Hot 100’s history, rising from number 91 to number three. The song peaked at number one outside of the US in 32 nations, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK, where it became Beyoncé’s third and Shakira’s second number-one single.
Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira deserves an honorable mention as well because Shakira revealed in an interview that the lyrics were motivated by her ability to judge a song’s suitability for release by whether or not it makes her want to dance. She recalls telling her band members, “My hips don’t lie! Do they move? They’re not moving”! With Shakira now a single mom and releasing firing hits we can’t wait to see what other tricks she’s got up her sleeve.
