Shakira’s first English album a major success

Crafting, singing, and releasing an entire album in a foreign language is an impressive feat. Shakira accomplished this with her debut English album, leaving fans amazed that the Colombian singer produced multiple hits without initially knowing English.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known simply as Shakira, released her fifth studio album, “Servicio de Lavandería” (translated to “Laundry Service”), in 2001. This was her first album in English, and it became a major success. One standout track, “Whenever, Wherever,” has garnered over 632 million listens.

Creating her first English album posed a challenge, as it was 2001, a time without the convenience of Google Translate or smartphones. Shakira relied on a dictionary to write her songs. In a 2009 interview, she mentioned, “Writing songs used to be so difficult for me. A few years ago I could barely speak English and I used to write my songs with a dictionary. It was a real labour of love and I would sit there for hours just looking up words. But now thankfully it comes to me more naturally and spontaneously.”

In 2000, Shakira spoke to CNN about wanting to challenge herself by learning and writing songs in English for her next album.

That album, later titled ‘Laundry Service,’ went on to become one of the best selling albums of all time.pic.twitter.com/pk8ZWFrHkt

— shakirastuff | fan account (@shakirastuff_) August 27, 2024

Shakira received support from her former manager Emilio Estefan Jr. and his wife, Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan. After the success of “Laundry Service,” she went on to release three more English albums. Fans of hers continue to be in awe of her talent and dedication.