Shakira Put Her ‘Career On Hold’ For Ex Gerard Piqué
Shakira attends the 24th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards at FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre on November 16, 2023 in Seville, Spain.
Shakira made a lot of sacrifices in trying to keep her relationship with Gerard Piqué and their family together. In a new interview with The Times UK, the “She Wolf” singer reflected on how she put her own career on the back burner to support Piqué and his professional soccer career.
Shakira, 47, told the publication that she put her “career on hold” for “a long time” so that he could play soccer. She added, “There was a lot of sacrifice for love.” Shakira and Gerard first met in 2010 on the set of the music video for her song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” The couple welcomed their first son, Milan, in 2013 and their son Sasha, in 2015. After twelve years together but unmarried, the couple ended their relationship in June 2020.
In Shakira’s opinion, there’s a certain core difference between artists and athletes that makes them often incompatible. “Empathy is key in an artist’s work,” she told The Times. Meanwhile, she said an athlete is in “a constant state of war and has to avoid empathy at all costs.”
As we previously reported in September, Shakira explained that it was “very difficult” to maintain her career while living in Barcelona. She listed difficulties like how hard it was to get a collaborator there and not being able to leave her children. Now, she resides full-time in the US and can release music faster with better access. However, without a husband to stay at home with the kids, Shakira finds it difficult to juggle being “a present mom” while making new music.
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
However, her kids have also gotten a chance to be there for her mom during some of her biggest career moments. Her boys were by her side at the 2023 VMAs as she geared up to take the stage to perform a medley of her biggest hits while being honored with the Vanguard Award. “They’re so loving and caring, and they inspire me to be better, to be a better person just for them,” Shakira said proudly of her sons in an interview with ET at the time. “They’re just the most amazing thing in my life. They’re everything to me.”
Shakira's 6 Best Songs
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977, in Colombia. Shakira’s writing skills started at an early age, when she wrote her first poem at four, per Rolling Stone. Gifted a typewriter at seven years old, Shakira continued writing poetry, which eventually evolved into songs. A year later, Shakira wrote her first song, titled “Tus gafas oscuras” (“Your dark glasses”). With her father being Lebanese and taking her to a Middle Eastern restaurant, Shakira first heard the doumbek (a traditional drum used in Middle-Eastern music usually accompanied by belly dancing). She started dancing on the table, and the experience made her realize she wanted to be a performer. She enjoyed singing for schoolmates, teachers, and the nuns at her Catholic school, but in second grade, she was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded “like a goat.” She was also known as “the belly dancer girl” after showing off her skills at school every Friday. “That’s how I discovered my passion for live performance,” she said.
An Early Star
Between the ages of ten and thirteen, Shakira gained local recognition after participating in various events in her hometown of Barranquilla. A local theater producer was impressed with her and tried to help her career. Traveling to Bogotá, the producer convinced Sony Colombia executives to hold an audition for Shakira. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums. Her debut album, Magia, was recorded in 1990 when she was only 13. The songs are a collection she made when she was eight, consisting of pop-rock ballads and disco songs.
Shakira’s second studio album, Peligro, was released in March. Neither recorded was a hit and are currently out of print. With a final chance given by Sony, she released Pies Descalzos in 1996. Her fourth studio album, Dónde Están los Ladrones? was released two years later. Upon the success of the album, Shakira compiled an English crossover album. Her lead single, “Whenever, Wherever,” became an international success. With eleven studio albums in her discography, we compiled a list of our six favorite Shakira songs. Take a look below:
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
