Shakira's incredible TV performance aged 14 singing her own track remembered

20 August 2025, 12:42

A glimpse into the early talent of the Colombian star performing 'Cazador de Amor' years before global superstardom.

At 14 years old, Shakira wasn’t mimicking idols — she was becoming one.

Before the Grammys, the World Cup, and her Super Bowl halftime show, the Colombian superstar was a teenager singing on national TV.

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The young star sang 'Cazador de Amor' – translated as 'Hunter of Love'– a song she wrote and composed herself, on the TV show Caribe Alegre Y Tropical.

The grainy 1991 clip doesn’t just capture the track from her debut album Magia — it captures a girl on the cusp of a career that would reshape Latin pop.

Wearing a crop top, boots and her trademark curly hair, Shakira radiates young talent as she belts out a track she wrote herself.

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It wasn’t her first television appearance, but the 'Cazador de Amor' performance serves as an early indication that the teenager had a future far beyond Colombia.

Magia was Shakira’s debut album, released in 1991, featuring a collection of songs she'd been writing since she was young.

Her earliest composition, 'Tus Gafas Oscuras' – translated as 'Your Dark Glasses' – she wrote at 8 years old about her father, who wore dark sunglasses to hide his grief after the death of her half-brother in a motorcycle accident.

Although the album sold only around 1,200 copies in Colombia, it was significant: Sony Colombia had signed Shakira at just 13, giving her a three-album deal.

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Magia was her first opportunity to share the songs she had been quietly writing on a typewriter, turning childhood poems into lyrics.

Performances like 'Cazador de Amor' helped Shakira build visibility in Colombia. They showed audiences a young singer who wasn’t simply performing covers, but presenting her own words and melodies.

14 year old Shakira - Cazador De Amor (Live in 1991) RARE footage

Between 1990 and 1993, she juggled television slots, school, and songwriting, while slowly shaping an artistic identity that would eventually break through with her 1995 album Pies Descalzos.

It wasn't until the release of “Whenever, Wherever” in 2001 that Shakira achieved international superstardom.

The song topped charts in over 10 countries, reached the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and firmly established her as a global pop icon.

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But the road to stardom wasn’t smooth for the singer, who has admitted in interviews that her early albums, Magia and Peligro (1993), were commercial disappointments – but she never lost faith.

“I always felt like music was my destiny,” she told The Guardian, reflecting on how childhood setbacks and her family’s struggles fuelled her determination.

"[My determination] has a lot to do with me wanting to make my mum happy and my dad proud. It became a compulsion at about the age of eight. My dad had a financial crisis. He went through bankruptcy," she explained.

The family lost a lot – their car and their furniture – but her father took her to the local park to show her another side of life, where children were poorer, with no shoes and sniffing glue.

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"It left a mark in my impressionable mind forever – it was a turning point. After that visit to the park, I made myself a promise to succeed in life.

"To vindicate my parents, yes. But also to do something for those kids who were orphans. If I ever succeeded, accomplished my goals in life, I wanted to somehow change their life."

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She kept her promise. Shakria has dedicated herself to philanthropy, most notably through her Barefoot Foundation (Fundación Pies Descalzos), which she founded in 1997 to provide education, nutrition, and support to vulnerable children in Colombia.

Over the years, she has also championed global causes, including early childhood education and disaster relief, using her platform to advocate for social change.

The performance of 'Cazador de Amor' on Colombian television, along with her earlier compositions like 'Tus Gafas Oscuras', marked the beginning of a musical journey that would span decades and reach audiences worldwide.

Even at age 14, Shakira was showing signs of the talent that would later make her an international star.

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