By Mark Gray
7:00am PDT, Sep 24, 2023
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It's been well over a year since Shakira and former long-term partner Gerard Piqué split, but she's still trying to get back on her feet. In a new chat with Billboard, the singer says she's in a "reflective" period and starting to feel like herself again.
Although the hitmaker and the soccer star were never legally married, they share two children together. Their highly contentious breakup shook Shakira to her core.
Keep reading for more on her mindset, her move from Spain to Miami and more…
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"I'm still in a reflective period," Shakira tells Billboard of life post-split. "I'm still exorcising some demons. The last I have left."
The breakup came amid rumors that Gerard Piqué had cheated on Shakira with then-23-year-old Clara Chia Marti while the songstress was out of town.
In a joint statement in June 2022, the duo said, "We regret to confirm that we are separating. We ask for privacy at this moment for the well-being of our children, who are our maximum priority. Thank you in advance for your understanding and respect."
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After the breakup, things turned petty.
At the time, the singer's home in Barcelona was adjacent to the home owned by Gerard Piqué's mother — some parts of the two properties were even connected. According to Spanish outlet Marca, Shakira built a wall to separate the two homes. She also put a life-size witch doll on her balcony overlooking the home where Gerard's mother lived and blasted a diss track inspired by her ex on repeat for the whole neighborhood to hear.
Shakira later released another track about scorned women — a collaboration with Karol G.
"I feel like a cat with more than nine lives; whenever I think I can't get any better, I suddenly get a second wind," Shakira tells Billboard.
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Referring to her mindset after the tumultuous — and very public — breakup, Shakira says, "I've gone through several stages: denial, anger, pain, frustration, anger again, pain again. Now I'm in a survival stage. Like, just get your head above water. And it's a reflection stage. And a stage of working very hard and when I have time with my children, really spend it with them."
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Having moved from Spain to Miami, Shakira has found more time to work on herself and her music — her family, though, is what really matters.
"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," she tells. Billboard "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. So I know it's possible."
"My mom doesn't leave my [sick] father's side. They still kiss on the mouth. And it has always been my example," she continues. "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."
