Shakira, born in 1977, is one of the main exponents of Latin pop. She debuted in the Latin American recording market in 1991, dominating the scene for over a decade. In 2001 she achieved worldwide success with the album Laundry Service, which sold more than 20 million copies and became one of the 100 best-selling albums of all time. One of the singer's most successful singles, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), the theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, reached number one in the charts in 19 countries and is the best-selling single of the World Cup and faster in the digital music age.

Shakira has won three Grammy Awards, twelve Latin Grammy Awards, thirty-three Billboard Latin Music Awards, and five MTV Video Music Awards, and she is considered the most commercially successful Colombian music artist of all time and singer most popular latina in the world.

In January 2011, the singer announced on her website her separation from Antonio De La Rúa, her boyfriend of eight years. She later became involved with the footballer Gerard Piqué. The couple had two children, born in 2013 and 2015 respectively. In 2022 the couple separated due to a betrayal by Piqué. In September 2022 she was put under investigation by Spanish magistrates for tax evasion, thus risking eight years in prison and a millionaire fine.