Shakira's 'Empire' Sizzles at Billboard Music Awards

Shakira lit up the Billboard Music Awards stage Sunday night with a sizzling rendition of her new hit single "Empire" from her self-titled album.

Dressed in a sheer, sparkling dress and thigh high black boots, Shakira stalked the stage complete with a cathedral-like stage set and flames blasting on stage behind her. By song's end she had walked into the audience chanting the song's luminescent refrain "and the stars made love to the universe," pausing before a blast of steam with the mic stand held high above her head.

This week "Empire" climbed 36-32 on the Pop Songs airplay chart (May 24) and marked Shakira's 15th hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart when it debuted on the tally in April.

The song is from her new self-title "Shakira" album which dropped in March and peaked at a career-high No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

The Colombian superstar is no stranger to the BBMAs, and is a six-time Billboard Music Awards-winner. She has als sold some some 10.4 million albums in the U.S and 15 million song downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

On the first single from "Shakira," the singer teamed up with Rihanna (both are managed by Roc Nation) on "Can't Remember to Forget You," which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and racked up an impressive 172 million worldwide views on YouTube. Her social numbers are similarly impressive: 25.2 million Twitter followers (among the top 15 in the world) and 94.6 million Facebook likes.

Her new album is also the singer's first in four years because, well, she's been busy: In addition to coaching on last year's NBC's "The Voice," she's been in a relationship with soccer star Gerard Pique, who plays for FC Barcelona. The two met in spring 2010 when Piqué appeared in the music video for Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official 2010 FIFA World Cup song. The duo welcomed a son Milan in January 2013. And, in fact, she was pregnant while filming her first episodes of "The Voice."

Shakira has had a whopping 22 top 10 singles on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart, as well as five No. 1s on the Top Latin Albums chart. Following the release of her first English-language album, "Laundry Service," in 2001, the performer quickly became a force on Billboard's pop charts. Among her Hot 100 hits is the global smash "Hips Don't Lie," which spent two weeks at No. 1 in 2006.

Fuente: billboard.com