When it comes to love, even celebs make big sacrifices. Shakira‘s story is a perfect example. She’s been super open about how she shifted her whole life around to support her ex, Gerard Piqué, and their family. It’s a common tale, with many women putting their dreams on the back burner for their partners or kids. But Shakira’s experience shines a light on what this looks like when you’re an entertainer — which, as any woman in Hollywood knows, seems to only be harder as you get older.
Shakira and Gerard Piqué became a thing during the excitement of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, thanks to the catchy “Waka Waka” anthem. They had an 11-year run, complete with two kids and a relationship that seemed rock-solid. But in June 2022, they called it quits, and rumors of Piqué cheating started to fly, along with other tales of his failure as a supportive partner. This left Shakira to pick up the pieces of her broken heart — and figure out how to prioritize herself after making so many sacrifices in the name of love.
“For a long time I put my career on hold, to be next to Gerard [Piqué], so he could play football,” Shakira, 47, told The Sunday Times in an interview published on Saturday, March 16. “There was a lot of sacrifice for love.”
This isn’t the first time Shakira has opened up about putting her career on hold to support Pique and raise their kids. Back in Fall 2022, when the separation was still fresh, Shakira talked about how she put off recording in order to “plant roots” when their oldest son, Milan, 9, started school. They settled in Barcelona because as “a soccer player, he wanted to play football and to win titles,” so she put her career goals on hold. “I had to support him. I mean, one of the two of us had to make a sacrifice,” Shakira told Elle at the time.
Fortunately for Shakira, turning to music helped her work through all the lingering feelings after she and Piqué parted ways.
“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. And the glue that kept it all together was music,” she shared. Despite the whispers of revenge through her lyrics, particularly noted in Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53, Shakira clarified that the album “helped me exorcise a lot of the demons that were tormenting me. And it felt good.”
While the album wasn’t about getting back at Piqué, she still shared some thoughts that painted her ex in a less than stellar light, noting that there are differences between musicians and professional athletes. “Empathy is key in an artist’s work. An athlete is in a constant state of war and has to avoid empathy at all costs,” she observed, noting, “That’s why it’s probably a really bad idea for an artist to hook up with an athlete.”
Now, Shakira’s starting fresh in Miami, chasing new opportunities and focusing on her kids’ happiness. But Miami’s buzzing scene is giving her a chance to reboot her social and professional life, despite juggling single motherhood and a taxing legal fight in Spain.
After facing heartbreak and big changes, Shakira is showing us all how you can start over and find new paths for yourself and your kids. Moving to Miami and focusing on her music, she’s proving that it’s possible to overcome challenges and chase new dreams, no matter what life throws at you.
Before you go, click here for all the celebrity splits and divorces we never saw coming.
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