Shakira says writing her 2023 hit “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” gave her a way through the breakup that ended her decade-long relationship with Gerard Piqué in 2022. In her telling, the song was not just a response to pain but a release: “It was just pure catharsis. I really needed to write about what I was going through and not have any censor.”
That comment is drawing fresh attention now because Shakira is speaking openly about the split while building toward the FIFA 2026 World Cup, where she has teamed up with Burna Boy on the official anthem, “Dai Dai.” Her World Cup connection runs deep. She performed “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” the official song of the 2010 tournament, and first met Piqué at that same event.
The breakup left Shakira raising two sons, Milan and Sasha, while managing one of the most public pop-star splits in recent memory. The song that followed became one of the most visible artifacts of that period, turning private hurt into a global hit and keeping her name in the conversation long after the relationship ended.
There was also the gossip that tried to explain the split for her. The relationship was widely tied to rumors of infidelity, including the viral claim that she discovered an alleged affair because a jar of jam in her home had been eaten. But when she revisited that story in a 2024 interview with the Sunday Times, she dismissed it in two words: “Not true.”
What she has said since is less about scandal than survival. “Through those challenging moments, I discovered how resilient we all are,” she said, adding, “Life is a b****, but it's so worth living because friends are there for you.” That leaves the larger question untouched, even as the music keeps moving forward: whatever set the breakup in motion, Shakira has already turned the aftermath into part of her public work, and now she is carrying that same momentum into another World Cup moment.
