Shakira Fought for “Hips Don’t Lie” — Now Her Career-Defining Hit

While it may seem hard to imagine Shakira's rise to international superstardom without the catchy beat of "Hips Don't Lie," it almost didn't happen. During her recent solo appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Colombian superstar revealed that she had not only to fight to get her label to release it, but she also had to convince the label that the great Wyclef Jean should be featured on the record. At the time, her album Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 had already hit stores, making revisiting the project a logistical challenge. Still, Shakira’s creative instincts pushed her to act. She shared that Wyclef Jean reached out to collaborate soon after she had an eerie dream about him. That meeting gave birth to a song she immediately recognized as a hit, even though her label didn’t share her excitement, at least not at first.

A Leap of Faith That Reshaped Her Career

Nevertheless, Shakira was undeterred. She contacted Donny Ienner, then head of Sony Music Label Group U.S., and pleaded with him to pull the albums from stores and reissue them with the new track. On the contrary, Ienner resisted the idea, arguing that the album had already been released. But Shakira urged him to trust her intuition. Above all, she believed in the song’s potential to change her career. Her persistence paid off."Hips Don't Lie" was added to the album's re-release in February 2006. Shortly after, it climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for two weeks; it was also the highest charting single of her career at that time. As she told Fallon, the track “changed my story,” proving the power of believing in one's vision, even against the odds.

A Recent Times Square Performance Almost Didn't Happen

Shakira, unlike her opinions in 2006, said recently that she was scared that a surprise concert in Times Square could fail. The star's fears were dashed when she took the stage in March 2024, playing for 40,000 fans. This is a moment to remember. Yet just hours before the performance, she was full of doubt. “We only announced it two hours before,” she explained. “Half an hour before, I was peeking out the window and saw only cars.” She even feared it might mark the end of her career. Nonetheless, within the final 20 minutes, the crowd swelled dramatically. What began as anxiety turned into one of the most unforgettable shows of her recent years, underscoring Shakira’s unique ability to draw massive support, even at the last minute.