In what year was pop singer Shakira born?

Pop singer Shakira was born in 1977.

Her full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, and she was born on 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, a Caribbean city in northern Colombia. Her father, William Mebarak Chadid, had Lebanese heritage, while her mother, Nidia Ripoll Torrado, is Colombian with Spanish ancestry. This multicultural background later became part of the broader story of her international identity.

Shakira began writing poetry as a child and turned many of those early ideas into song lyrics. She released her first albums in Spanish during the 1990s, establishing herself across Latin America before achieving major English-language success with Laundry Service in 2001.

Her global hits include “Whenever, Wherever,” “Hips Don’t Lie,” and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” A common mix-up is confusing her birth year with the dates of her international breakthrough, which came when she was already in her mid-twenties. She has also worked as a songwriter, dancer, producer, and philanthropist.