The Voice Season 6

[Miguel]

I recall reading about Shakira in the Wall Street Journal before she was well known in America. Probably just before this album:

Shakira's fifth studio album and first English language album Laundry Service (Servicio De Lavanderia in Latin America and Spain) was released on November 13, 2001. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling over 200,000 records in its first week.

She released a couple of other albums, and then:

In early 2008, Forbes named Shakira the fourth top-earning female artist in music industry. Then, in July, Shakira signed a $300 million contract with Live Nation, an international touring giant, for ten years. The touring group also doubles as a record label which promotes but does not control the music their artists release. Shakira's contract with Epic Records called for three more albums as well – one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation, but the touring and other rights of the Live Nation deal were confirmed to begin immediately.

According to Sony, Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold between 50 to 60 million albums.

Took her awhile to get to those heights:

Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music Colombia in 1990 when she was only fourteen years old. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially as only 1,200 copies were sold worldwide.

...After the poor performance of Magia, Shakira's label urged her to return to the studio to release a follow-up record. Although little known outside of her native Colombia, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile's Viña del Mar International Song Festival in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was then 20-year-old Ricky Martin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakira#199...Beginnings