Shakira gives an insight into her life after her separation from the soccer star Gerard Piquethat sheds light on love, sacrifice and the enduring power of friendship.
As Shakira reflected on her post-breakup journey, she spoke about the evolution of her priorities and beliefs around love. “Deep down, I always thought having a husband was the most important thing in my life,” she says Marie Claire UK. “I was looking for a man like my father, with whom I would have children and then plan to be together forever – like my parents, who are still so in love.”
Despite the heartbreak of the breakup and the adjustments that followed, Shakira has not lost faith in love and is inspired by her parents’ enduring relationship. “I can’t say I don’t believe in love because I see the example of my parents after 50 years together,” she shares. “I experienced love, but I wasn’t so lucky myself.”
The 47-year-old artist, who split from Piqué in 2022 after over a decade together, has since moved to Florida, where she is focusing on raising her two sons, Milan and Sasha.
While romantic love may have eluded her, Shakira finds comfort and longevity in the bonds of friendship. “Oscar Wilde said that friendship is the purest form of love, and I think that’s true,” she notes. “My relationship [lasted] 12 years, but my friends will be there for life.
As she navigated life as a single mother, Shakira admitted to facing challenges but expressed her gratitude for the strong bond she shares with her sons. “I wondered how we were going to survive, how we were going to make it,” she admits, emphasizing the resilience and adaptability she and her children have developed.
Last month, the 47-year-old Colombian superstar released her album ” Women don’t cry anymorewhich translates to “Women Cry No More” and became the most streamed album of the year at the time.
At an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonShakira explained the meaning behind the album’s title.
“For far too long we have been sent crying, script in hand, just because we are women,” she said. “We have to hide our pain from our children and from society. We have to heal in a certain way. And I don’t think anyone should tell us how to heal. Nobody should tell you.” She knows how to lick her wounds. I think women now decide when to cry, how to cry and until when.
Shakira also poked fun at her painful breakup with Piqué, saying it gave her time to focus on her craft.
“I didn’t have time because of the husband factor. Now I’m husbandless,” she teased. “Yes, the man brought me down. Now I’m free. Now I can actually work.”
She noted that while she was grieving the end of the relationship, she turned to her music, calling it “the glue.”
“Each of these songs was really like a catharsis for me and every time I wrote something I felt better and better,” she shared.
She also features her sons on the album, joking that they’re “demanding royalties” to save for a car one day.
Shakira explained her new approach to making music in a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1She said: “It feels completely different now. However, it is more challenging because now I am responsible for these two children, these two babies, who are so dependent on me. And I’m a single mom, I don’t.” In a way, it’s good not having a husband, because that got me down, man. Now I feel like working. It’s a compulsive need of mine to write songs that I didn’t feel before.
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