Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known mononymously as Shakira, is a Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, and record producer. She was born on February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, and is of Colombian, Spanish, and Lebanese descent. Her father was born in New York City to a family from Lebanon, and her paternal grandparents emigrated from Lebanon to New York City. Her mother has Spanish (Catalan and Castilian) and Italian ancestry, although both of her mothers surnames are Spanish. Shakira is considered the best-selling Latin female artist of all time, with over 145 songs released and about 80 million records sold.