"Illegal" is a song recorded by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira for her seventh studio album, Oral Fixation, Vol.

"Illegal" is a pop and country ballad with lyrics concerning mourning of a past lover complete with an understated vocal performance by Shakira and an electric guitar riff by Santana throughout.

The music video for the song, co-directed by Jaume de Laiguana and Shakira, had its premiere on 16 November 2006 on MTV's Total Request Live (TRL).

"Illegal" has been performed by the singer live on few occasions, such as during the MTV 5 Star event (2005) and Good Morning America (2006).

[4] AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that the lyrics "You said you would love me until you died/And as far as I know you're still alive" were similar to Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" (1995).

The other instruments featured in the song are keyboards played by Lester Mendez, bass by Paul Bushnell, drums by Shawn Pelton and percussion by Luis Contez.

The mixing was done by Rob Jacobs while the audio engineering was finished by Kevin Killen, Serge "Sergical" Tsai and Vlado Meller, who mastered the song with the assistance of Mark Santangelo.

[7] A second, enhanced CD single featuring two versions of the song along with "La Tortura" and its music video was released on 18 December 2006.

[1] The critic finished his review by concluding that time would be needed for channels streaming the song to propel it to the top 40 of the charts, "but this forlorn masterpiece is as instantly reactive on the slow side as 'Whenever, Wherever' was on the fast".

[3] Matt Cibula, in a review for PopMatters, found country music elements on the song, adding that its chorus could easily make it a CMT number-one single.

[2] Spence D. of IGN also praised her vocals in the quiet song and complimented Santana's performance for bringing "nice ambiance".

[4] Entertainment Weekly's David Browne gave a more mixed review, opining that "'Don't Bother' and 'Illegal' are sister-of-Alanis catfights we've heard before".

[14] The same year, Emily Exton of VH1 placed the track on her list of Shakira's best duets, summarizing "The pained musings of a woman scorned, punctuated by the legend’s iconic guitar groove".

[17] In the United States, "Illegal" managed to top the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for the week of 10 February 2007.