The Stunning Transformation Of Shakira

In 2001, when she was already well into an incredibly successful music career in Latin America, Shakira released the song "Whenever, Wherever." The Colombian singer-songwriter's debut English single wasted no time taking over the charts in the U.S. and other countries around the world, and from that moment on she was a global pop superstar. "I always knew I was going to try for a crossover," she told Variety in 2021. "My goal was for my music to be able to reach as many people as possible." Consider that goal met and then some. 

"My life wouldn't be remotely the same had I never taken that leap," Shakira added. "It's true that now Spanish has become mainstream, but breaking through that barrier at the time was so important, not only for me as an individual but also [for] the culture I was representing." 

While her crossover moment certainly was a turning point for her career, it is only a piece of her incredible story. This is the stunning transformation of Shakira.

On February 2, 1977, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born in the small town of Barranquilla, Colombia. The child of a Lebanese jeweler and a native Colombian woman, Shakira enjoyed a relatively calm middle class life until her father went bankrupt and had to sell everything they owned to pay off his debts. That, along with the tumultuous conditions in Colombia at the time, left a lasting impact on Shakira, and understandably so. "When you're born in a country where there is huge social strife, and a few people have a lot and a lot of people have nothing, you grow up intolerant to that inequality," she shared in a 2019 interview with The Guardian.

Once a week, Shakira and her classmates would go into low-income neighborhoods of Colombia in order to tutor young children, many of whom didn't have access to various necessities. "It was so unfair that some kids were able to go school and university, but for others that wasn't an option," she continued. "I had to succeed, make money, become someone relevant in society, because I felt that only that way could I do something."

When Shakira was only 4 years old, after she saw a belly dancer perform at a restaurant, she fell in love with dancing. In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Shakira shared that she dove headfirst into dancing, performing on a regular basis when she was only in kindergarten. "I was five years old, I got addicted to being on stage, it felt like it was the most wonderful place on Earth, performing in front of an audience, who in this case were a bunch of classmates, kids my age," she said. 

Shakira also tried to get into her school's choir around that time, but the choir teacher apparently wasn't a fan of her unique singing style. "He said I sounded like a goat and I would destabilise the entire choir if I was allowed to join," she said. Fortunately, that did not deter her from getting into music. What's more, her parents continued to support her dreams.

Just as Shakira decided that she was going to be a superstar when she was young, she also started writing songs as a child. Her first was entitled "Your Dark Sunglasses," which she composed when she was 8 years old. "It was dedicated to a little boy in my imagination. Because at that time, I did not have a boyfriend," she explained in a 2002 interview with Rolling Stone. "Even when I was a little child, the subjects of my songs were romantic." 

In a particularly endearing move, Shakira's father did everything he could to nurture her talent, going so far as to protect her songs officially. "My dad used to take them to the notary and register them so that nobody could steal them from me," she confessed in a 2009 interview with The Guardian. "Who does that? What parent takes a treasure in his child's scribbles?" Whether he realized it or not, it proved to be a savvy move.

The next step in Shakira's career was clear to her, so she threw everything she had into manifesting her ambitions. "Always I was dreaming of a record contract," she recalled in a 2002 interview with The Guardian. "From 10 to 13 it was all I could think of. I worked hard for this dream. Nobody could say I didn't try."

In the early 1990s, when Shakira was around 13 years old, she and her family heard that there was a record exec heading to town. Far be it for Shakira to miss such an opportunity, so she ambushed him in his hotel lobby and treated him to an impromptu performance then and there. She was signed with Sony within the week. "There was no doubt for me, ever. Call it a premonition, call it an instinct," she continued. "I was born to do this, to connect with a wide audience." She added that she knew that being a big performer was her destiny. 

For as much as Shakira has been a trailblazer in her own career, she's also been a leader in the charity world. She was only 18 years old when she founded her charity Fundación Pies Descalzos (The Barefoot Foundation), which builds schools in low-income parts of Colombia. "It's in an area where there's a huge population of displaced people — refugees in their own country," she shared in an interview with the Independent 2006 after the foundation opened a location in Cartagena. "It's a very impoverished area, where kids have no access to a high-quality education programme."

The charity has seen dramatic results, too, something that Shakira is incredibly proud of. "It's already having an enormous social impact on this area. Before this school, there was no paved roads, or potable water, or electricity," she continued. "And now all of this has changed, because of this alliance that we have created between our foundation, the private sector, and the [national] and local governments." 

In 2014, Shakira received the Hero Award at the Radio Disney Music Awards. Her ongoing philanthropic work with Fundación Pies Descalzos was honored, as was her involvement with other nonprofit organizations.

After landing a record contract when she was a teenager, putting out four albums — including the commercial hits "Dónde Están los Ladrones?" and "Pies Descalzos" — and becoming a bona fide sensation in the Latin music world, Shakira desired to reach an even wider audience. And so, she set out to make her first English-language album, "Laundry Service." Cuban American music icons Gloria and Emilio Estefan were key figures in the creation of the career-shifting album. 

"When Shakira began to work with us she did not know English," Gloria explained in an interview with the Latin Times. "So I had to translate the songs from the album 'Laundry Service' for her and convince her that she could do a triumphant job."

At first the record company wasn't on board with an English album, something Gloria had to push back on. "They wanted her to just throw a couple of songs in English on a Latin record, and I fought hard," she revealed in an episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter." "I said, 'Listen, this is her shot. You can't do it halfway.'" The label listened to Gloria, the album wound up selling millions of copies, and the rest is history.

While "Laundry Service" was Shakira's big debut in the English-speaking market, led by the super danceable single "Whenever, Wherever," her biggest hit to date is 2005's "Hips Don't Lie." Featuring Wyclef Jean, the song catapulted to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. To date, it is her only single to hit the No. 1 spot on the chart.

So what's the origin story behind one of the catchiest pop songs ever recorded? "The reason why I named that song that is because, when I'm in the studio, I know when a song is ready and it can be taken out of the oven, and it's exactly when my hips start moving," Shakira shared in an interview with Women's Health (via HuffPost). She continued, "So I used to say to my musicians, 'my hips don't lie! Are they moving? They're not moving! So this is not ready.'" And with that, an anthem was born.

Although Shakira continued to enjoy commercial success in the 2010s, the once-religious singer found herself having a bit of a crisis. "I even had lost my faith for a while," she lamented in a 2013 interview with Elle (via People). "I was becoming ... agnostic." She added that she believes the existence of God can only be proven through love.

That was not an easy situation for Shakira to find herself in, as her faith had always been super important to her. "It was really hard, because I was always very religious, and for a few years, maybe because — it sounds so corny — I was not feeling the love like it was supposed to be," she continued, "I started to think that there was no God." However, she went through another shift when she first crossed paths with Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué. As Shakira told the outlet, "I meet Gerard and the sun comes out."

Shakira and Piqué met on the set of the music video for "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" in 2010, and they confirmed their relationship the following year. The two never married, but they were together for 11 years.

If there's one thing that hasn't changed about Shakira, it's her commitment to advocating for childhood education. So much so, her efforts caught the attention of former President Barack Obama in 2013. "He has appointed me as a commissioner to consult his administration on educational excellence for Hispanics in the US," she shared in a 2014 interview with the Independent. "We try to find ways to improve the education system for Hispanics in America, to achieve excellence."

Working with Obama came quite naturally for Shakira, as she felt that he really understood what her goals were. "He's a champion on early-childhood development strategies," she continued. "So I like the work he's doing, and I support it, and I realize that he's one of very few political leaders around the world that actually has early-childhood development strategies at the top of his agenda."

In 2013, Shakira and Gerard Piqué welcomed their first child, Milan Piqué Mebarak. After Milan was born, Shakira told Latina magazine (via E! News) that she couldn't wait to have another child. "When you have a baby, when you feel his love, you feel so at peace with the world," she said in the 2014 interview. "You just want to share the good news and share how happy you feel." In 2015, Shakira and Gerard welcomed their second child, Sasha Piqué Mebarak.

As blissed-out as Shakira felt welcoming her two children into the world, she has not sugarcoated how difficult being a parent can be. "[Motherhood] is the hardest job I've ever done," she confessed in a 2019 interview with The Guardian. "I'm never sure if I'm doing it right. I'm always second-guessing myself." 

Fortunately, Shakira found her stride in parenting, though it's still not without its difficulties. "I love being a mother but it's challenging to keep the balance — to not let motherhood prevent you from reading a good book, going out with your boyfriend-slash-husband, having an adult conversation," she continued. She added that she's had to work to keep prioritizing her creative space.

In October 2017, Shakira suffered a hemorrhage on her vocal cord while rehearsing for The El Dorado World Tour. The following month, she announced on Instagram that she would have to hit pause on the tour dates. "I hope to overcome this difficult trial and return to the stage as soon as possible, to once again hear your voice singing along with mine," she wrote.

"I always thought there were going to be things in my life that would go away, like beauty, youth, all of that stuff," Shakira later shared in a 2019 interview with The Guardian. "But I never thought that my voice would leave me, because it's so inherent to my nature. It was my identity." Understandably, this took both a physical and emotional toll on Shakira. "There were times I couldn't even get out of bed — I was so depressed," she recalled. While doctors recommended surgery, Shakira wasn't confident that it would help. So she turned to her spirituality to try and reclaim her voice, and thankfully it eventually started to return on its own without any surgical intervention. "It felt like I was having some kind of religious experience," she said. 

In 2018, Shakira found herself in some hot water because of her financial situation. The government of Spain, where she lived with Gerard Piqué and their children for years, said she owed them more in taxes than she'd paid them in 2012 through 2014. A long and drawn-out battle ensued. There was back and forth about whether her primary residence at that time was actually in the Bahamas or Spain, and she maintained that she'd paid whatever she owed to the Spanish government during that period. She was hit with a hefty fine of $64 million and she almost faced jail time.

Fast-forward to 2026 when Shakira was not only acquitted, but a court ordered that the Spanish government pay her back. After the news of her acquittal broke, the superstar spoke out about her legal victory. "After more than eight years of enduring brutal public exposure, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately affected my health and the well-being of my family, the National Court has finally set the record straight," she said, per Hola! "There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself was never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn't true."

In 2020, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez teamed up for the Super Bowl halftime show. While there was no doubt that the powerhouse duo would put on a memorable show, their decision to perform in the wake of the controversy surrounding the NFL and Colin Kaepernick was met with some pushback. Kaepernick, a superstar quarterback, was basically shunned by the NFL after he began kneeling during the national anthem in protest to police treatment of Black people across the U.S. There were a number of musicians who felt that performing in the Super Bowl halftime show would not be in solidarity with Kaepernick, who is Black. Shakira, however, did not see it that way. 

"J.Lo, as a Latina born in the U.S., and me, as a Latin American woman in the U.S., had a huge responsibility and opportunity to represent all different minorities through our performance," Shakira told Cosmopolitan in 2021. Although Shakira did receive some flak for participating in the show, the singer was ultimately happy with her decision. The "Ojos Así" singer went on to say that she was happy with the way that different cultures were represented in her show. "In my case, I also wanted to pay homage to my Middle Eastern culture. I feel that we did it," she added. J.Lo. and Shakira were widely celebrated for their performance, and it was arguably one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows ever.

Shakira and Gerard Piqué's relationship seemed like a love story for the ages, but unfortunately, their love wouldn't last. They officially split in 2022 after Gerard Piqué's cheating news hit the papers. As Shakira told People en Español in 2023, "I found out through the press that I had been cheated on while my dad was in the ICU." For the Colombian singer, this experience was devastating. However, she did her best to pull through. "There are days when I feel strong. There are days when I feel like I have lived through so many hard things that I can face anything," she said. Ultimately, Shakira's focus in the immediate wake of her dissolution of her relationship was survival.

As time went on, however, Shakira realized that she could do more than just survive; she could thrive. The singer turned all of her pain into art, and in January 2023, she released a song called "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53," describing her breakup with Piqué. "It was just pure catharsis. I really needed to write about what I was going through and not have any censor," she told People in 2026. The song quickly became much more than a personal project, as thousands of people from across the globe tuned in. Before long, it became one of the top 10 songs on Billboard's Hot 100. For her part, Shakira began to look ahead.

For years, Shakira was known for her distinctive singing voice, which blended a rich sense of depth with some gorgeous yodeling. However, over time, the singer began to deviate from what many people would describe as her signature sound. On a 2024 episode of "Hot Ones," Shakira acknowledged that her approach to yodeling had changed. "I think I used to overdo the cries in my voice," she confessed. "I think it was exaggerated. A little baroque. You know?" And so, Shakira reduced the amount of yodeling in her performances. She then focused on creating sounds with more depth and less drama.

Interestingly, Shakira feels that this change happened pretty naturally. In the aforementioned "Hot Ones" ep, the singer explained that different life events seemingly had an impact on her voice. "I noticed that after my pregnancies, my voice got thicker, more rounded, more full," she said. "I feel that my voice keeps changing over the years, and I tell my [sons Milan and Sasha] that." According to the award-winning performer, she is more than content with the current version of her voice. Sometimes, she even criticizes herself to her kids. "I say, 'I used to suck. But, I think I've evolved.' I like myself much better now as an artist, but that's only me," she said with a laugh.

Shakira's life after parting ways with Gerard Piqué was full of challenges. However, as time went on, the singer has risen to the top — perhaps even validating Shakira's original decision to never get married. Following the massive success of "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53," Shakira wrote several other catchy songs. In 2024, she released the successful album "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran," and in February of the next year, that album won a Grammy for best Latin pop album. Upon accepting the award, Shakira dedicated her big win to her two sons. "I want to share this award with my kids, Milan and Sasha, who are here with me," she told the crowd, according to People. "I'm so proud of you guys, of your kind hearts."

In a 2025 interview with the BBC, Shakira shared that her kids keep her going. "They're just everything to me. They're my engine and the reason why I'm alive," she said. "So having them every night on stage, it's just such a precious moment." The following year, Shakira opened up to People about how she was able to soldier on in the wake of her split because of her sons. "When your world collapses, you have to get up and pay the bills and still prepare breakfast and take your kids to school. Life needs to go on," she said.

Shakira has long been a fan of the FIFA World Cup, but in 2026, her relationship with the global tournament changed in a major way. The Colombian singer was selected to perform at the first ever World Cup halftime show. The event, which was scheduled to take place during the final match on July 19, was meant to inject a bit of musical fun into the soccer competition. Just like the Super Bowl halftime show, it was designed to attract viewers who don't know a lot about sports — however, it won't share the exact same weird rules musicians have to follow during their Super Bowl performances.

Although the show is meant to be a big money-maker for FIFA, Shakira hopes that it will inspire people to connect beyond the soccer pitch. "Every World Cup is really magical, and I think this one is going to be all about bringing people together in this very sensitive moment in time, socially and politically," she told People in the weeks preceding the big event. According to the singer, the Cup presents people with the opportunity to reflect on their shared experiences — and perhaps even begin working toward peace. "We all go through pain and hardship, and we also have enjoyed the beauty of this life with its ups and downs," she noted.