Remarkable Women project by Armelle Falliex: #8 Shakira
Shakira was born February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is a singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer, and model.
If Shakira has a very successful career:
According to Sony, she is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold between 50 and 60 million records.
According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, “Hips Don’t Lie” was the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history.
Shakira became the first artist in the history of the Billboard charts to earn the coveted number one spots on both the Top 40 Mainstream and Latin Chart in the same week doing so with “Hips Don’t Lie”.
Her song “La Tortura” broke the record on the Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks chart, appearing at number-one more than any other single with a total of 25 non-consecutive weeks.
According to Yahoo!, her song “Hips Don’t Lie” is the best-selling single of the last decade
etc… etc….
In 1997, at the age of only 18 years old (!) Shakira founded the ”Pies Descalzos Foundation”, a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia.
It reported that she donates approximately $55,000 to charity yearly.
She also continuously performs a large number of benefit concerts like for the Prince’s Trust, VH1’s Save the Music Foundation, the “Clinton Global Initiative” or the ALAS Foundation
On October, 24th, 2003, at the age of 26, she becomes a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and she is one of their global representatives.
On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at a UN ceremony for creating the Pies Descalzos Foundation,
In 2008, Shakira served as the Honorary Chairperson for “Action Week”,
On her 32nd birthday, Shakira opened a new $6-million school in her hometown Barranquilla, which was sponsored by herself and her Pies Descalzos Foundation.
In March 2010, she was awarded a medal by the UN International Labor Organization
On October 5, 2011, US President Barack Obama announced that Shakira was appointed as a member of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. As well as on January 28, 2012, Shakira received the French Medal of “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres”
Shakira is an exceptional example of commitment, and an example of solidarity for all of us. She deserves to be part of our Remarkable Women project, says Armelle Falliex
