Pop star Shakira celebrates turning 38.
Singer was born in 1977, to jewellers William and Nidia in Barranquilla, a town on Colombia's Caribbean Coast, Shakira had always seemed destined for show biz, learning how to belly dance at four, writing her first song aged eight, and playing the guitar at 11 all without formal lessons.
The aspiring star began entering talent and beauty pageants, but while in Bogota for a modelling shoot at theage of 13, she was side-tracked from a fashion career when, after a meeting with a Sony executive and singing a Capella in a hotel lobby, she was signed to the label, and released a self-penned debut, Magia (Magic), in 1991.
Her breakthrough album Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet) sold four million copies and put the young star at number one in eight countries, and the 38-year-old made five Spanish-language albums before in 2000 Whenever, Wherever became an MTV staple, and her first English-language hit single.
Her second album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2, was released 2005 and spawned the immensely popular Wyclef Jean collaboration Hips Don't Lie, which shot to the top of the charts in 45 countries, before a duet with Beyoncé – 2007's global hit Beautiful Liar – consolidated her position in the English language market.
Shakira has now released ten albums over a long and successful career, and has also branched out into TV. The super star joined the US version of The Voice in 2012, and after taking a year off to record an album, rejoined in 2014.
A passionate philanthropist, Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and one of their global representatives. She has laso worked closely with governments around the world and in 2011 President Barack Obama revealed that Shakira was to become a member of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics
In January 2011, after 11 years together she and Antonio announced that they had separated several months previously. The pair's long-term relationship was rocked when Shakira found love with star football player Gerard Pique.
They two officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011 by posting a picture of them together with the caption: "I present to you my sunshine."
Two years later on January 22, 2013, the singer gave birth to their son Milan. In August 2014, the pop princess confirmed that she was expecting their second child, and the pair welcomed a second son, Sasha, on 29th January 2015.