Last Saturday in a ceremony which took place in Cannes the French Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterand awarded Shakira the medal Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Shakira was in Cannes for the opening of the NRJ Awards that night with her single Je L’Aime A Mourir.

This award was established by the Minister of Culture in France in 1957, in recognition of those people who have promoted or significantly contributed to the fine arts or literature.

Other recipients of distinction in the past include the poet T.S. Eliot, the director Clint Eastwood and the actor George Clooney. Shakira is the first Colombian to receive this honour.

Shakira said: “I feel deeply honoured to receive this recognition in a country like France, that has shared such a cultural legacy with the rest of the world.”