Shakira's Colombian home city unveils statue in her honor

Colombian superstar Shakira's Caribbean home city of Barranquilla unveiled a 6.5-meter (21.3-foot) hip-swaying statue in her honor on Tuesday. The towering bronze and aluminum creation depicts the singer in a bikini top, bare middle and a long, flowing skirt, her hands clasped over her head and one hip jutting out in one of her characteristic dance moves.

"Hips that do not lie, a unique talent, a voice that moves masses," reads the inscription at the base of the sculpture unveiled on the banks of the Magdalena River at a ceremony attended by Shakira's parents William Mebarak and Nidia Ripoll. "Hips don't lie" is the title of one of 46-year-old Shakira's award-winning songs.

On the platform X, the singer thanked sculptor Yino Marquez and his art student collaborators for "this example of the enormous artistic talent of the people of my country."

Picture taken on August 25, 2023, of Colombian artist Yino Marquez working in a statue of Colombian singer Shakira in Barranquilla, Colombia. Arms interlocked high, belly exposed, and torso folded to one side anticipate Shakira's iconic hip movement, immortalized on Tuesday in a 6.5-meter-high statue in the Colombian port city of Barranquilla, where she grew up. (Photo by Jesus RICO / AFP)

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, an icon of Latina girl power, has sold some 80 million albums worldwide and won three Grammy awards. She has recently been in the news for completely different reasons, investigated over unpaid taxes in Spain and paying millions of euros in settlements.

In 2021, Shakira was named in the "Pandora Papers" leaks, which revealed the wealth and tax avoidance strategies of the global elite. She has since released a new hit song with Argentine DJ Bizarrap that has been viewed more than 666 million times on YouTube and won 2023 song of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards. --AFP