About Shakira

• Announced engagement to Antonio de la Rua, son of the present President of Argentina. [March 2001]
• Is the youngest of eight siblings.
• Shakira is Arabic for "grateful or full of grace."
• Is of Colombian and Lebanese heritage
• Named her album "Laundry Service" because when she is in love she feels "clean and fresh"
• Has an IQ of 140!
• Fluent in Portuguese, Italian, and English, in addition to Spanish and Arabic
• Hates to wear jewelry.
• Her Lebanese grandmother taught her the art of Arabian Belly Dancing so she can stay true to her middle eastern roots
• Has perfect pitch (the ability to recognize any note upon hearing it or sing any note without prior to hearing it)
• Her manager for Latin America, Patricia Tellez, the woman who helped her go from being local artist to Grammy-winning global artist, died of a heart attack in Bogota on 17 August 2004.
• Ranked #9 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).
• She likes chocolate balls.
• Father's name is William Mebarak Chadid and mother's name is Nidia del Carmen Ripolli Torrado.
• Her mother is half Colombian and half Italian and her father is American with Lebanese ancestry.
• She has 5 half brothers Alberto, Edward, Moises, Tonino and Robin and 3 half sisters Ana, Lucy and Patricia.
• Steven Spielberg offered her the role of Elena Montero in The Mask of Zorro (1998) back when he was originally in talks to direct it. But she turned the offer down because she felt that not only was she a bad actress, but her English wasn't good enough.
• When she was two years old her oldest half-brother died in an accident while he was riding a motorcycle and a drunk man hit him with his car.
• Her oldest half-sister Lucy is a surgeon, Alberto, her half-brother, is a lawyer, Moises is the third child, Tonino is the fourth child and the closest to Shakira, having worked many years as her road manager. Then is Patricia who lives in Spain, she is a special education teacher, and finally there is Antonio and Edward, the youngest who lives in Miami.
• The first English song she wrote was Objection, from the album Laundry Service.
• She loves to eat corozos, a little Colombian fruit that is sweet-sour.
• Lost her suitcase with all her songs from Donde Estan Los Ladrones in an airport in Bogota Colombia. This happened a couple of months before she walked into the recording studio to begin on that album.
• Mattel put out several Barbie dolls inspired by Shakira and her look.
• Her album 'Fijacion Oral Vol.1' is #1 on the Billboard Latin Albums Chart in September 2005.
• Attended La Ensenanza School in Barranquilla.
• Her English language album 'Oral Fixation 2' will be released in November 2005.
• Heavily influenced by Arabic writings of Lebanese father, who was a jeweler and writer.
• Emerged victorious in local and national talent contests by age of 10.
• Signed Sony record deal by age 13; subsequently released debut CD "Magia (Magic)."
• Graduated from high school at age 15.
• Breakthrough recording: "Pies Descalzos"; sold four million copies worldwide.