Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll

Shakira, 2023.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born 2 February 1977), widely known simply as Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Queen of Latin Music" and has been praised for her musical versatility. She made her recording debut with Sony Music Colombia at the age of 13. Following the commercial failure of her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), she rose to prominence in Hispanic countries with her next albums, Pies Descalzos (1995) and Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998). She entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service (2001), which sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Buoyed by the international success of her singles "Whenever, Wherever" and "Underneath Your Clothes", the album propelled her reputation as a leading crossover artist. Broadcast Music, Inc. described Shakira as a "pioneer" who extended the global reach of Latino singers. In 2022, MTV included her in the list of "The Most Influential Women in the History of Music", being the only Latina on the list.

She has received numerous awards, including three Grammy Awards, fourteen Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2023 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), seven Billboard Music Awards, thirty-nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, twenty-one Guinness World Records, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was named the Top Female Latin Artist of the Decade by Billboard twice (2000s and 2010s). For her philanthropic work with her Barefoot Foundation and her contributions to music she received the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year and Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year awards in 2011. She was appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the United States in 2011, and Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2012.

Shakira began a relationship with Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rúa in 2000. In a 2009 interview, Shakira stated their relationship already worked as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that".

After 10 years together, Shakira and de la Rúa separated in August 2010 in what she described as "a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship". She wrote that the couple "view this period of separation as temporary", with de la Rúa overseeing Shakira's "business and career interests as he has always done". As first reported in September 2012, de la Rúa sued Shakira in April 2013, asking for $100 million he believed he was owed after Shakira suddenly terminated her business partnership with him in October 2011. His lawsuit was dismissed by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in August 2013.

Shakira entered a relationship with the Spanish football player Gerard Piqué in 2011. Piqué, who is exactly ten years her junior, and Shakira met in spring 2010 after he appeared in the music video for Shakira's song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Shakira gave birth to the couple's first son, Milan, on 22 January 2013 in Barcelona, where the family took residence. Shakira gave birth to their second son, Sasha, on 29 January 2015. Forbes listed Shakira and Piqué in their list of "World's Most Powerful Couples". In June 2022, the couple confirmed in a joint statement that they were separating after being together for 11 years.

In March 2024 Shakira stated that she's better off as a single mother as a man was dragging her down. She also notes that she's not sure why a man was dragging her down.

In another interview conducted at around the same time she referred to her former partner Gerard Pique, the father of her two children, as Voldemort, referring to the villain in the Harry Potter franchise.

Paradise Papers

In November 2017, Shakira was named in the Paradise Papers. It was revealed that she was the sole shareholder of a Malta-based company which was being used to transfer $30 million in music rights. Her attorneys insisted that her use of the company was entirely legal.

In 2018, due at least in part to information revealed in the Paradise Papers, Spanish authorities began an investigation into Shakira's finances. Prosecutors argued that she did not pay taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014, during which time she was living in Spain with Piqué and their family, while Shakira argued that she maintained her primary residence in the Bahamas during that period and otherwise was touring internationally. In July 2021, a Spanish judge ruled that there was "evidence of criminality" sufficient for Shakira to be brought to trial on charges of tax fraud.

In 2021, the Pandora Papers showed that Shakira submitted applications for three offshore companies in 2019. Her representatives told LaSexta that this paperwork was not filed for purposes of establishing new companies but as part of the process of dissolving existing companies. They further claimed that the companies had no income or activities and that Spanish authorities had been made aware of their existence.

In July 2022, after not reaching a deal with the Spanish Prosecution Ministry, the singer decided to go to trial to prove her innocence. The prosecutor asked the judge for an eight-year prison sentence over six alleged tax fraud crimes. On 27 September 2022, a Spanish judge from Esplugues de Llobregat approved the tax fraud trial after prosecutors accused her of failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($13.9 million) in taxes. Shakira claims she has already paid all she owed plus 3 million euros ($2.8 million) as interest. A trial date was set for November 2023 after the presiding Barcelona judge, Ana Duro, received the necessary qualifying papers from both parties.

On 20 November 2023, at the start of the trial, Shakira settled the case by paying a €7.5m fine. In a statement she cited her well-being and its influence on her children as being factors in her decision.

References

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