Why Shakira Compares Pain From Gerard Pique Breakup to Being Stabbed

4d ago | Source: Yahoo

Shakira's recent breakup was La Tortura.

Indeed, the "Hips Don't Lie" singer recently detailed how she felt behind closed doors as her 11-year relationship with Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique fell apart in the public eye.

"The suffering I felt was probably the greatest I had ever experienced in my entire life, and it kept me from functioning at times," Shakira explained in a Rolling Stone interview published June 13. "It felt like someone had stabbed a hole in my chest. And the sensation was so real, almost physical. I physically felt like I had a hole in my chest and that people could see through me.

After the couple—who met in 2010 and share sons Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9, together—announced their separation in 2022, the 47-year-old was subject to not only rumors of Gerard's infidelity, but also a heavily publicized tax fraud case and caring for her father after a fall left him close to death.

"When it rains, it pours," Shakira recalled of the moment. "It was crazy how many things I had to deal with at that time."

Still, the "La Tortura" singer felt that the dominos of unfortunate events only motivated her to direct her focus back on her career. In fact, she permanently relocated with her sons from Barcelona to Miami, citing it was easier to work in the studio in the U.S. than in Spain where she had lived with the 37-year-old.

And she even used the metaphor of a hole in her chest for her recent "Monotonía" music video—which saw her shot in the heart by an arrow—despite push back from her team for it being too gruesome, noting, "That's how I felt."

"This has been a journey back to myself, and the way there was through my music," she explained. "I'm in a moment where the worst has happened, and this process woke up a new sense of autonomy and independence in me."

Shakira's new focus on her music coincides with her previously discussing how she put her career on hold for her partner's own profession.

"There was a lot of sacrifice for love," she admitted to Times of London in March. "I put my career on hold, to be next to Gerard, so he could play football."

Ultimately, the Grammy winner had planned to get back into the driver's seat when Gerard retired from professional soccer, but dived back in a little earlier than expected due to the former couple's breakup.

"In the end, the plans all come true," she acknowledged to Rolling Stone. "Just in a different way."

And while Shakira and Gerard's relationship is firmly in the singer's rearview, keep reading for all of their best family moments.