08/08/2026
Un tiki di Shakira su historia
Her older half-brother died in a car accident.
For years, her father wore dark sunglasses every single day just to hide his deep sadness and tears from the world.
Shakira was only two.
Her father, William Mebarak Chadid, was devastated.
The son he lost was William, his eldest child from his first marriage.
He was just 19.
In 1979, his motorcycle was struck by a car on a Colombian road.
The loss changed everything.
Her father fell into a deep, lasting depression.
Her mother, Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, became the family’s strength.
She supported her grieving husband while encouraging Shakira’s growing talent.
Shakira grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Her Lebanese father was a jewelry store owner, writer, and journalist.
Her mother brought Spanish and Italian heritage into their home.
Creativity came early.
At four, Shakira wrote her first poem, “La rosa de cristal.”
Then her Lebanese grandfather took her to a Middle Eastern restaurant.
She heard the traditional doumbek drum.
And discovered belly dancing.
But her voice wasn’t immediately celebrated.
At Catholic school, a choir teacher rejected her.
He said her powerful vibrato sounded “like a goat.”
Shakira was incredibly shy.
Belly dancing became her escape.
Every Friday at school, she danced.
Slowly, she found the courage to express herself.
But she never forgot her father’s sadness.
At eight, she turned those feelings into a song.
“Tus Gafas Oscuras.”
“Your Dark Glasses.”
She wrote it for her father.
A little girl trying to comfort the man she loved.
That empathy followed her into adulthood.
At 18, moved by poverty, she started Fundación Pies Descalzos.
Its mission was to build schools and provide meals for vulnerable Colombian children.
At 26, she became UNICEF’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador at that time.
Fame didn’t stop her curiosity either.
In 2007, she secretly attended a UCLA history course.
She registered as Isabel Mebarak.
Cap. Sweatpants. Back of the classroom.
During the 2020 lockdown, she earned a certificate in Ancient Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.
She kept learning.
She kept helping.
And the little girl who once turned her father’s pain into a song eventually turned her voice toward millions of others.
Before Shakira became a global star, she had already learned something bigger than fame—
how to turn pain into compassion.