Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Atlántico in Colombia. She is popularly known as Shakira and is a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, philanthropist, dancer and an actress but acts occasionally. Shakira means ‘grateful’ in Arabic. She has spent most of her childhood in Northern Columbia and is the only daughter of Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, who is a Columbian with ancestors from Spain and Italy and William Mebarak Chadid who is of a Lebanese descend. She wrote her first poem at the age of 4 which was titled “La Rosa De Cristal”. She grew up seeing her father writing stories who became her idol. She got typewriter as a gift from her father at the age of 7 and started writing poems which eventually turned into songs. At an early age of eight she lost her brother in a motorcycle accident. This incident inspired Shakira to write her first song "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses"). Shakira has played a major role in the world of pop music in Latin America after her debut in the 1990’s.