In anticipation of her debut studio album in seven years, the “Whenever, Wherever” singer is thinking back on her career thus far and how her 2022 breakup with former professional soccer star Gerard Piqué impacted it.

Sacrifice Her Career For Love

In an interview published on March 16, Shakira said, “I put my career on hold for a long time to be next to Gerard, so he could play football.” “There was a lot of sacrifice for love.”

Five months before the celebrity soccer player withdrew from the game, in June 2022, the Grammy winner and her ex-partner, with whom she has boys Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9, announced their separation.

They had been together for 11 years. She’s since dropped a number of new tunes, the majority of which are going to be on her next album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. The album, whose English title is “Women No Longer Cry,” will be released on March 22.

Vulnerability Turned To Resilience

Shakira shares her feelings on her breakup with Gerard in her new music. The vocalist described her new record to the Times as a representation of “the transformation of pain into creativity, frustration into productivity, anger into passion, vulnerability into resilience.”

Shakira said to the Times that her and Gerard’s sons understand the message of the song, saying, “They know that there’s only one way to live life, and that’s accepting the pain.” And there are various ways for each of us to accomplish that.”

Milan is also processing his parents’ divorce by doing like his mother did. “When his father and I were going through separation, he wrote two amazing songs,” according to Shakira, “the kind that will bring you to tears.”