Shakira felt like she needed to give up a lot professionally in order to keep her family intact.
“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.”
Shakira has since moved to Miami from Barcelona, where she previously lived with Piqué, 37, and sons Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8. Relocating to the Floridian city allowed her to bond with Victoria Beckham over being in a relationship with a soccer star. (Victoria, 49, is married to retired athlete David Beckham, who now owns a club in Miami.)
Shakira went on to compare and contrast the life of being a pop star — Victoria was notably a member of the Spice Girls when she met her husband — to that of an athlete.
“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,” the “She Wolf” singer added. “That’s why it’s probably a really bad idea for an artist to hook up with an athlete. I don’t know what I need [now].”
Shakira and Piqué started dating in 2010, going on to welcome sons Milan and Sasha. They ultimately split in June 2022, remaining focused on coparenting their kids.
“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 love that’s unique and unrepeatable. … 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.”
Shakira has since moved on with NBA star Jimmy Butler, with a source exclusively telling Us Weekly that September the pair are “growing closer every day” but she’s not in a rush to settle down.
Piqué, meanwhile, has also been dating since the split. He has been linked to Clara Chia Marti since August 2022, making their Instagram debut in January 2023.
“The truth is I go with my girlfriend to the shops and she buys them for me,” Piqué quipped to Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos one month later, marking his first comments on their romance. “I’m a puppet.”
Amid his new relationship, Piqué retired from professional soccer in November 2022.
“Now is the time to bring this journey to its end. I’ve always said that there would not be any other team after Barca. And that’s how it will be,” he said in a social media video at the time. “I will pass my love for Barca to my children. Like my family did with me. And you know me, sooner or later, I’ll be back. I’ll see you at Camp Nou. Long live Barca. Always.”
Shakira, meanwhile, is a Grammy-winning vocalist and has reprioritized her career in the wake of their breakup. Her next album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, will be released later this month.
Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran will allude to Shakira and Piqué’s split, which Milan and Sasha have picked up through early previews.
“They know that there’s only one way to live life and it’s accepting 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.”
