Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (; Spanish: [ʃaˈkiɾa]; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she began performing in school, demonstrating Latin American, Arabic, and rock and roll influences and belly dancing abilities. Shakira's first studio albums, Magia and Peligro, failed to attain commercial success in the 1990s; however, she rose to prominence in Latin America with her major-label debut, Pies Descalzos (1996), and her fourth album, Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998). As of 2001, she had sold over 10 million albums alone in Latin America.

Shakira entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service in 2001. Its lead single, "Whenever, Wherever", became one of the most successful singles of 2002. Her success was solidified with her sixth and seventh albums Fijación Oral, Volumen Uno and Oral Fixation, Volume Two (2005), the latter of which spawned the best selling single of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie". Shakira's eighth and ninth albums, She Wolf (2009) and Sale el Sol (2010), received critical praise. Her official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", became the biggest-selling World Cup song of all time with 10 million downloads. With over 1.8 billion views, it is one of the most viewed music videos on YouTube. She has four of the twenty top-selling hits of the 2000s, more than any other artist. Shakira served as a coach on the fourth and sixth seasons of the American version of The Voice in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Her tenth album, Shakira (2014), was preceded by its lead single, "Can't Remember to Forget You".

Shakira has received numerous awards, including 5 MTV Video Music Awards, 3 Grammy Awards, 13 Latin Grammy Awards, 7 Billboard Music Awards, 39 Billboard Latin Music Awards and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and sold over 125 million records worldwide as of 2012 (over 70 million albums sold) with an estimated over 33.5 million record sales in the United States (as of 2018), making her the best selling South American singer and one of the best selling artists of all time. She performs charity work, most notably through her Pies Descalzos Foundation. In 2011, she was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics – a four-person group that advises the president and Education Secretary. From 2012 to 2015, she was listed among world's top 100 most powerful women in the world by Forbes. In 2017, she was the only artist listed as one of the world's greatest leaders by Fortune, ranked at 27th.