Female Icons of the 2000s: Then and Now

#23: Shakira Then

When Shakira crossed over into the English-language market in the early 2000s, she didn’t just make an entrance — she shook the whole scene. Whenever, Wherever exploded onto the charts, and suddenly the Colombian singer with the wild curls and hypnotic hips was everywhere. Her mix of pop, rock, and Latin rhythms felt completely new.

She was never manufactured pop; she was passion in motion. Shakira wrote her songs, played guitar, and danced like no one else could. Her 2006 hit Hips Don’t Lie became one of the biggest songs of the decade, cementing her as a global superstar with both brains and flair.