“The suffering I felt was probably the greatest I had ever experienced in my entire life,” the Colombian superstar shared in her Rolling Stone cover story

Njera Perkins is a digital news writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. Her work has previously appeared in POPSUGAR, Teen Vogue, ELLE, Refinery29 and more.
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Shakira for Rolling Stone. PHOTO: MASON POOLE

Shakira is in her healing era.

Two years after enduring a highly publicized breakup and more personal turmoil, the Colombian superstar, 47, is finding her way back to herself amid a career resurgence like none other.

Looking at her career now — 30+ years in and on the verge of possibly her biggest tour ever after releasing a seven-time platinum-certified album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran — the “La Fuerte” singer says it’s a testament to the physical and emotional pain she survived after splitting from her ex-partner, soccer player Gerard Piqué, of 11 years.

Shakira Says Her Son Milan, 11, Processed Her Split from Gerard Piqué Through Music: ‘His Therapy’

The former pair, who share two children — sons Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9 — announced their breakup in June 2022, with cheating rumors surfacing the following year. Shakira has since spoken out about their fallout, namely in her music and a 2023 People en Español interview, in which she revealed how Piqué “betrayed” her while her dad was in the ICU recovering from a tragic fall.

Reflecting on the split and what she’s called the darkest time of her life in a new Rolling Stone cover story, the Grammy-winning powerhouse said, “The suffering I felt was probably the greatest I had ever experienced in my entire life, and it kept me from functioning at times.”

“It felt like someone had stabbed a hole in my chest,” Shakira continued transparently. “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.”Shakira for Rolling Stone. MASON POOLE
Shakira Walks Around with a Hole in Her Chest in ‘Monotonía’ Music Video amid Gerard Piqué Split

Shakira illustrated that hole in her chest for fans to see in the music video for 2022’s “Monotonía,” a ballad that mourned a failed relationship just a few months after the singer separated from Piqué — who allegedly cheated on her with current girlfriend Clara Chia Marti.

In the visual, Shakira stands in the middle of a grocery store, looking visibly upset before someone blasts her in the chest. After picking herself off the floor, she runs through the streets holding her bleeding heart.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, the former The Voice coach noted how her team initially protested her explicit approach with the video, which was seemingly aimed at Piqué. “[They] raised their hands and rang the alarms and tried to stop me, like, ‘Think about it a little. No, why are you going to expose yourself like that? That’s way too gory,’” she remembered. “They were tough images, yeah? But they were genuine. That’s how I felt.”Shakira for Rolling Stone. MASON POOLE
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Around that tumultuous time — when she was also battling a tax evasion case — Shakira said famous friends like Will.i.am, Adele, John Mayer and more checked in on her well-being. She also recalled how Coldplay’s Chris Martin, whom the singer has known for roughly a decade, once sent her a photo of a shattered vase glued back together to represent her recovery period.

“Kintsugi — you’re going to be so much stronger once this is over,” he told her, per Rolling Stone, in reference to an ancient Japanese style of art he’s often drawn to. “That’s the ­metaphor. That you break, and then you get fixed with gold, and you’re more beautiful than you were before,” Martin, 47, explained.

“For anyone going through a hard time, me included at times,” he added, “that’s a really powerful thing to hold on to.”

Coming out of her heartbreak, Shakira explained how she felt “maximum relief” after expressing the full extent of her pain in her 2023 breakup anthem “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Now, back on a career-high, she told Rolling Stone, “In finding this freedom, I also found myself.”

“This has been a journey back to myself and the way there was through my music,” the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer added. “I’m in a moment where the worst has happened, and this process woke up a new sense of autonomy and independence in me.”