Shakira on the Sacrifices of Love: ‘I Put My Career on Hold’
Just like the Fenix, Shakira has risen from the ashes of heartbreak. But not without knowing full well the sacrifices she made along the way. The “Pies Descalzos” singer told the UK’s Sunday Times about the sacrifices and pain she had to endure during her relationship with soccer player Gerard Piqué.
Almost two years since her separation from the Spanish athlete, Shakira reflected on her 12-year relationship, the reality behind the scenes, and her strength to cross the valley of shadows.
Shakira’s unrelenting faith in love
In a conversation with the English outlet published Saturday, Shakira spoke openly about what the past few years have been for her. According to The Cut, the singer made clear “just how much she sacrificed” to be with Piqué, a man she describes as “faithful only to himself.”
“For a long time, I put my career on hold to be next to Gerard so he could play football,” the Colombian singer told the Times. “There was a lot of sacrifice for love.”
“My priority was my home, my family. I believed in ’till death do us part.’ I believed that dream, and I had that dream for myself, for my children,” Shakira told Billboard in September 2023. “My parents have been together, I don’t know, 50 years, and they love each other like the first day, with a unique and unrepeatable love. And it has always been my example. It’s what I wanted for myself and my children, but it didn’t happen. If life gives you lemons, you have to make lemonade. That’s what I’m doing: making lemonade.”
She added at the time, “I think that nothing can compensate for the pain of destroying a family.
“Of course, I have to keep going for my children’s sake; that’s my greatest motivation. But my biggest dream, more than collecting platinum albums and Grammys, was to raise my sons with their father. Overcome obstacles and grow old together. I know I’m not getting that now.”
While she has repeatedly said her strength lies in her children Milan (11) and Sasha (9), the path towards where she is now wasn’t easy.
Shakira said she “uprooted her life” and moved to Spain, where she spent a decade to provide her children with “stability,” as their dad’s career was the main priority.
“They know that there’s only one way to live life, and that is to accept the pain. And each one of us has different ways of doing that,” she told The Times, noting that Milan did the same. “When his father and I were going through separation, he wrote two amazing songs, the kind that will bring you to tears.”
Unwavering resilience and a new life
Since her separation from Piqué, Shakira hasn’t minced words on her feelings towards the father of her children. In fact, her worldwide success with her single “#53” left no space for doubts.
“Everything happened at once,” she told People En Español last year. “My home was falling apart. I was finding out through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in the ICU.”
However, the singer picked up the pieces of her previous life, moved to Miami, and garnered countless awards and honors in the last two years.
“There were so many pieces of my life that crumbled in front of my eyes, and I had to rebuild myself in a way, picking up the bones from the floor and putting them all together,” she told Sunday Times. “And the glue that kept it all together was music.”
She’s now ready to release her first new studio album since 2017’s “El Dorado,” and explained every song helped her “exorcise a lot of the demons that were tormenting me. And it felt good.”
Her new album, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” debuts this Friday.
