Shakira has opened up about her former relationship with Gerard Piqué, blaming him "for dragging her down".
The 47-year-old 'Hips Don't Lie' songstress announced in 2022 that she had split up with the soccer player, who is also the father of her two children, Sasha and Milan.
Shakira had been in a relationship with the 37-year-old Spanish athlete since 2010 after the pair met on the set of her music video for the World Cup anthem 'Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)'. It wasn't until May 2011 that the pair went public with their relationship.
However, in 2022, the pair released a joint statement confirming their separation that read: "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."
On Monday (March 25), the three-time Grammy winner appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote her new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry).
She opened up about her former relationship with the soccer star, telling the comedian that the reason for the seven-year gap between her latest album and 2017’s El Dorado was her ex-partner.
Watch Shakira on The Tonight Show below:
"I’ve been putting out music here and there, but I think it was really hard for me to put together a body of work" the Colombian superstar shared. "I didn’t have time. It was the husband factor."
"Now I’m husband-less," the She-Wolf hitmaker declared. (She never married Piqué) "The husband was dragging me down. Now I’m free! Now I can actually work!"
The 'Whenever, Wherever' singer-songwriter continued to share more about her recovery processes following her break-up.
"I was trying to rebuild myself and music was the glue, but it felt like it was an alchemical process in which I was transforming pain and anger and frustration into creativity and productivity and strength and resilience," she said.
She also explained why she chose precious stones for the alternate covers of her new album, telling Fallon: "The resilience of a diamond. So that’s why I picked the metaphor of the precious stones, because of the resilience that us women have today when we have to face adversity."
The mother-of-two also opened up about the societal expectations placed on women to hide their pain, sharing that her 12th studio album rejects these standards.
"It’s men’s turn [to cry] now," she said. "Now women [should] decide when to cry, how to cry, and until when. No one is supposed to tell us how to cope with the hardship of life."
Shakira‘s latest album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, is out now!