As the Colombian pop superstar prepares to perform at Sunday's World Cup final, her 20 best songs showcase a career spanning over three decades, from World Cup anthems to megastar duets. Here is the definitive ranking.
20. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (ft Freshlyground) (2010)
Of Shakira's World Cup anthems, the joyfully ludicrous Waka Waka from the 2010 tournament in South Africa bangs hardest. Featuring Afro-fusion band Freshlyground, the Colombian superstar redraws preened football superstars such as Ronaldo as soldiers on a frontline.
19. Anitta & Shakira – Choka Choka (2026)
A keen collaborator across genres, Shakira links up with Brazilian superstar Anitta on the head-knocking Choka Choka. Fusing baile funk with elements of hip-hop and dance, the siren-like synth sound is an unsubtle call to the dancefloor, creating a riotous two minutes that implores movement.
18. Las de la Intuición (2005)
After becoming one of the planet's biggest superstars via 2001's debut English-language album Laundry Service, Shakira rented an estate in Madrid to work alone on follow-up Fijación Oral, Vol 1. A celebration of female intuition set to a pulsating synth-line and soft rock backbone, Las de la Intuición exemplifies her mastery of easy-breezy melody.
17. Karol G & Shakira – TQG (2023)
Originally written as a solo track by Karol G, TQG was switched to a duet after the fellow Colombian realised Shakira had also recently been treated poorly by a man. The title's acronym translates as Too Big for You, and Shakira channels bolshiness into a verse shrugging at the idea of an ex moving on given she is literally Shakira.
16. Chantaje (ft Maluma) (2016)
In this reggaeton battle of the sexes, its title translating as Blackmail, Shakira leads her superstar countryman Maluma on a merry dance. Unsure of where he stands, Shakira innocently claims not to be in charge of the relationship, before singing about not belonging to anyone on the addictive chorus.
15. Can't Remember to Forget You (ft Rihanna) (2014)
In the canon of proper superstar pop duets, this Police-esque team-up with pre-Anti Rihanna feels strangely overlooked. At the time, Shakira was headed down a bland EDM cul-de-sac, so its bouncy reggae, ska horns, and sleek new wave came as a surprise. The pair unleash their distinctive voices to great effect.
14. Ciega, Sordomuda (1998)
Bearing similarities with Estoy Aquí, her 1995 breakout hit, Ciega, Sordomuda (Blind, Deaf and Mute) showcases Shakira's knack for turning love drama into a full-blown epic. Over occasional bursts of mariachi trumpets and galloping pop-rock, Shakira describes herself as “baggy-eyed, scrawny, ugly, unkempt, clumsy, dumb, slow, foolish, crazy” in the face of a dangerously obsessive man.
13. Did it Again (2009)
Keen to build on the success of 2005's Oral Fixation, Vol 2, Shakira employed Pharrell for follow-up album She Wolf. On the best of their four songs, Shakira rides Pharrell's clattering, off-kilter beat and minimalist synth riff with aplomb, delivering a fictional story about being the other woman with the passion of a scenery-chewing telenovela star.
12. Te Felicito (ft Rauw Alejandro) (2022)
Released as her longterm relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué was disintegrating, Te Felicito would eventually appear on 2024 breakup opus Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry). Regardless of the tabloidy context, it is a brilliant song, melding electropop and reggaeton to create a ludicrously catchy midtempo kiss-off.
11. Poem to a Horse (2001)
There has always been something delightfully unhinged about Shakira's songwriting. This Laundry Service album track tells of a deadbeat boyfriend addicted to “hydroponic pot” who cannot look up long enough to see what he has lost – speaking to him is like eating soup with a fork, or reading poetry to a horse. It is delivered with unwavering passion over an enthralling mix of soul and Nirvana-ish rock.
10. Inevitable (1998)
Having just turned 21, now managed by Emilio Estefan, who helped stars such as his wife, Gloria Estefan, and Enrique Iglesias break the US, Shakira had a lot riding on her fourth album Dónde Están los Ladrones? Keen to evolve her sound while not alienating her young fanbase, on songs like the lilting Inevitable, with melodic nods to Radiohead and Alanis Morissette, she showed her ability to transform heartbreak into stadium anthems.
9. Don't Bother (2005)
Co-created alongside the Matrix, who made Avril Lavigne a superstar, Don't Bother is a curious beast. Lyrically in classic Shakira surrealist territory: a tall love rival is described as having gravity-defying looks while Shakira herself is a flea, or maybe a cat. Don't Bother is a lot of fun, with Kelly Clarkson-esque slow-burn verses launching into a vast chorus built around the lyric, “don't bother, I won't die”.
8. Objection (Tango) (2001)
One of six singles from the 13m-selling English-language Laundry Service, the emotionally splenetic Objection (Tango) skips over musical reference points – No Doubt, the B-52s, surf-rock, new wave, tango – with the fleet-footed energy of a dance professional. Shakira holds it all together with captivating vocal melodies.
7. Men in This Town (2009)
Co-written by Sam Endicott of mid-00s dance-rock also-rans the Bravery, Men in This Town takes a fairly implausible idea – that Shakira may struggle to find a man in LA – and blows it up into a sleek new wave banger. Name-checking Matt Damon, the song's chest-thumping chorus builds to a swirling, psychedelic conclusion.
6. Shakira: Bzrp Music Session, Vol 53 (2023)
While the title may be unwieldy – it is part of a series by Argentinian producer Bizarrap – its lyrical focus is pin-sharp. Taking aim at ex-boyfriend Piqué, Shakira also calls out his new girlfriend, his mother, and even the Spanish authorities who investigated her for tax evasion (the investigation was later dropped). The celebrity gossip is even more delicious paired with the song's percolating synthpop.
5. Underneath Your Clothes (2001)
One of Laundry Service's two undeniable global smashes, the sombre Underneath Your Clothes displays Shakira's ability to take popular mini-genres – in this case delicate, Jewel-esque singer-songwriter kook – and overload them with personality. Evoking the 80s hit Eternal Flame by the Bangles, what could have been an overly sentimental ballad about finding the right person is instead given a unique framework about battles and territories conquered.
4. Beyoncé & Shakira – Beautiful Liar (2007)
“Bey-on-say, Bey-on-say” Pause. “Sha-ki-ra, Sha-ki-ra”. Not many songs can turn an in-song reading of a school register into an all-time earworm, but the sensuous Beautiful Liar is a cavalcade of hooks. A duet added to the re-release of Beyoncé's B'Day album, it highlights the best of both creators, with Beyoncé's honeyed vocals meeting Shakira's grittier tones over a marriage of flamenco and R&B that peaks in one of pop's best bridges.
3. Hips Don't Lie (ft Wyclef Jean) (2006)
While its creation may read as cynical major-label cash-in – originally released in 2004 by Wyclef Jean as Dance Like This for Dirty Dancing 2 – Hips Don't Lie channels a carefree summer holiday into three and a half minutes. Latin-pop, reggaeton, and salsa rub sweaty shoulders with hip-hop as Shakira sashays around her defining song.
2. Whenever, Wherever (2001)
If that smash hit is about her hips, then the fantastically odd, Andean music-inspired Whenever, Wherever is most famous for its focus on Shakira's chest. Translated into English by Gloria Estefan, it is likely the only US Top 10 single to celebrate smaller breasts and their inability to be confused with mountains. As with all Shakira's best songs, the preternaturally catchy track is hypnotic and heartfelt.
1. She Wolf (2009)
With the charts then dominated by dance-pop thanks to the Black Eyed Peas and an incoming Lady Gaga, Shakira chose to lead her eighth album with a hybrid of hi-NRG pop, Italo disco, and new wave, co-written by the Bravery's Endicott, and including a lyric comparing her position in a relationship to an abused coffee machine in an office. She also seamlessly drops “lycanthropy” into the first verse without batting an eyelid. While her peers tackled pop songwriting tropes with a straight bat, here Shakira turns boredom in a relationship into a camp horror story with her as its possessed, breathless lead. A true one-off from a true one-off.
