Tragic Details About Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known internationally as Shakira, is a musical sensation thanks to her infectious pop anthems like "She Wolf," "Hips Don't Lie," and "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)." In 1995, her breakout album, "Pies Descalzos," sold millions of copies and soared to the top of the Latin music charts. In 2001, the Colombian singer released her hit single, "Whenever, Wherever," and became a global phenomenon. Shakira and her famously honest hips have gone on to have a meteoric career that spans three decades and counting.

The multi-Grammy winner has sold more than 80 million albums and is widely considered one of the most successful female Latin singers of all time. As Sony executive Afo Verde told Billboard, "She's one of those few cases in the world who, despite the passage of time, continues to work with the same excitement, quality, respect and attention to detail as she did in the beginning."

Despite her success, though, Shakira has experienced plenty of setbacks. The tragic events of Shakira's life – from suffering a tragic loss to battling criminal charges – will tug at your heartstrings.

Shakira always had a knack for performing. As she detailed to Rolling Stone, she began belly dancing at 4 years old. By 7, she'd started writing poetry and experimenting with instruments. Soon, she was entering local talent contests and singing at state fairs. She became a formidable dancer, singer, and songwriter — and all before she even started high school.

Despite her impressive talents, not everyone saw potential in the young artist. In an interview with 60 Minutes, the superstar explained that she wanted to join her school choir, but the choir teacher thought her strong vibrato would overpower the voices of the other singers. "He didn't like the way I sang," the hitmaker said. "He thought it was too much." 

In addition to being rejected from the school choir, Shakira was teased by her classmates, who thought she sang "like a goat." The Colombian crooner continued, saying, "I remember coming back home feeling really disappointed and sad because my classmates ... didn't like my voice." Fortunately, Shakira's father encouraged her to keep singing. Years later, her unique vocalizations would become her signature trait. If not for Shakira's resilience and her father's good advice, she might never have become the yodeling sensation we know and love today. 

Until 2001, Shakira was relatively unknown outside of the Spanish-speaking world, but that all changed when she released her smash crossover hit, "Whenever, Wherever." Armed with pan pipes and her iconic yodel, she belly-danced her way into the hearts of English-speaking audiences. Her subsequent crossover album, "Laundry Service," combined American pop-rock with musical influences from Shakira's Lebanese and Latin-American roots. The record was an enormous success, selling over 13 million copies globally.

Thanks to "Whenever, Wherever," Shakira quickly became a staple in the Western music landscape. Even so, the singer-songwriter experienced prejudice in the industry. "I remember when I had my first big break in music outside Colombia, there were many double entendre comments about what it meant to be Colombian, and usually associated with drug trafficking, all of that," she revealed to Glamour. "It's like, we're always the joke." 

In 2017, the songstress released "La Bicicleta" with fellow Colombian artist Carlos Vives. The song's music video featured sweeping shots of the Colombian coast, neighborhood dance parties, and scenic bicycle rides around Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla. Shakira told The New York Times that she made the video to challenge uninformed stereotypes about her home country. 

By 2017, Shakira had recorded her 11th studio album, "El Dorado," and was set to embark on a massive world tour. "Thank you all so much for listening to my music in so many places around the world," she gushed in a statement to E! News. "I can't wait to be onstage again singing along with all of you. ... It's going to be fun!" Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived. Just before opening night, the singer announced that she was postponing her world tour. In an Instagram post, Shakira explained that she had experienced a vocal cord hemorrhage, which left her unable to sing (via Billboard).

Shakira later told The Guardian that the injury made her feel bitter, pessimistic, and severely depressed. At times, the singer spent all day languishing in bed. "I always thought there were going to be things in my life that would go away, like beauty, youth, all of that stuff," she confessed. "But I never thought that my voice would leave me, because it's so inherent to my nature. It was my identity. So when I couldn't sing, that was unbearable."

Fortunately, Shakira's vocal cords healed without surgical intervention, and she resumed her world tour in 2018. That year Shakira even won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album thanks to "El Dorado."

By 2022, Shakira's personal life was in a tailspin. First, there was her devastating breakup with Gerard Piqué. Then, rumors of Piqué cheating emerged. Her private life became the center of a tabloid frenzy. The singer's father, William Mabarak Chadid, traveled to her home in Barcelona to comfort her. But while he was there, Chadid fell and suffered a brain bleed. Shortly after having surgery for the bleed, "he fell again and broke many bones in his face," Shakira told Elle.

The singer was already shattered and humiliated from her public breakup — now, she was terrified of losing her father. "Everything happened at once," she told People en Español. "My home was falling apart. I was finding out through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in the ICU."

"In one year, I lost what I loved most, the person I most trusted, my best friend: my father. He has lost many of his neurological functions as a result of the accident," Shakira told Billboard while reflecting on the tragic circumstances. "And he went to Barcelona precisely to console me, to support me at the time of my separation. I thought, 'How can so many things happen to me in a year?'"

In February 2020, Shakira performed at the prestigious Super Bowl Halftime Show. She shared the stage with fellow Latina legend Jennifer Lopez. Clad in a red sequinned bodysuit and flanked by an army of gorgeous dancers, Shakira performed her biggest hits. The Grammy winner brought back all of her most iconic dance moves, hipshaking and gyrating across the stage in a jaw-dropping performance. She also rocked out on a drum kit and donned a dazzling rhinestone-encrusted guitar. The show equally showcased her colossal talents and her sexy "She Wolf" prowess. Fans saw it as an iconic display of feminist empowerment; however, some had a different take on Shakira's performance, and the pushback was rather loud.

Some audiences railed against the halftime show, calling it an "X-rated strip club performance," a "disgusting spectacle," "an affront to women," among other terms. According to CNN, more than 1,300 complaints of the like were filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the performers' outfits and dance moves. Some social media users even referred to the event as "Stripperbowl2020." Shakira didn't speak out about the criticism, but she has addressed complaints about her image being "too sexy" in the past. "I think art, music should be sensual. Not necessarily sexual," she told The New York Times back in 2005. "Sensual is everything that refers to the delight of the senses. And that's what artists do, is stimulate the senses in any possible way."

Around 2021, Shakira caught the surfing bug. "I recently took it up as a hobby," she gushed to Glamour magazine. "I never in my wildest dreams thought I would like something like this, but it's gotten deep under my skin, once I started surfing, I couldn't stop!" She went on to explain that surfing was "very therapeutic" because it encouraged her to let go of her desire for control. Everything is, to a certain extent, uncomfortable," the singer said. "Surfing is not a comfortable sport."

Things went from uncomfortable to downright scary in 2023 when Shakira had an accident while surfing in Costa Rica. The songstress had been catching waves with fellow celeb Gisele Bündchen when she suddenly slipped under the water. Fortunately, Shakira's surfing instructors were nearby and brought her back to shore. Witnesses took to social media with accounts of the terrifying scene. One user on X (formerly Twitter) posted photos of the aftermath. In the snapshots, Shakira could be seen holding her forehead while visibly in pain. Fortunately, she appears to have recovered.