Shakira is GLAMOUR’s November coverstar – fronting our first ever Environment Issue. The global megastar talks to GLAMOUR’s Entertainment Director and Assistant Editor, Emily Maddick about her passion for protecting the planet, fighting prejudice (and wild boars) and her new pal, Prince William.
Photographer Lucie Hugary Stylist Nicolas Bru UK fashion sustainability consultant Michelle Duguid Hair & makeup Beatriz Matallana using Kjaer Weis Nails Sayaka Kira Shakira wears Organic linen jacket and ECONYL regenerated nylon dress, both Stella McCartney; zero-emission foundry produced sustainable diamond rings, Vrai
The day before I’m due to meet Shakira, the superstar singer goes viral with even the BBC and broadsheet newspapers reporting on a most extraordinary tale involving two wild boars who attempted to steal her handbag in a park in Barcelona.
“It’s just crazy!” she exclaims, both of the incident and of the world’s reaction after she shared the story on social media.
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“I was taking my son, Milan, for a walk in the park and I got him a little ice cream. We sat on one of those park benches and we were just minding our own business. And then two huge wild boars came from the back and ambushed [us] and took my purse!
And I was like, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” and screaming, because they were taking it away, with my phone in it, my car keys, everything! Like they could understand me! And people were just watching and they weren’t doing anything!” she says, laughing now over the incident in which luckily no one was hurt. “
“They started digging inside my purse… Obviously my son’s sandwich was inside the purse, so that’s why they were so interested. So they took the sandwich and walked away and left my purse. It was wild.”
But it’s not just Shakira’s fights with wild boars that have been making headlines lately, and we’re here today to talk in all seriousness about her most important fight to date: that for the survival of our planet.
In the past few years the 44-year-old singer, TV star and activist has increasingly used her platform to campaign for environmental awareness and combating climate change to reverse the devastating damage that humanity has wreaked on the world.
“When you talk about the planet, we’re facing so many issues that are so urgent that I don’t think anyone has the luxury to say, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to participate in that cause,’” she declares. “Because everyone who lives on the planet is directly affected by all these issues.”
Our interview takes place after a full day shooting the GLAMOUR November digital cover. It’s our first ever Environment Issue, to coincide with the UN Cop26 Climate Change Conference happening this week in Glasgow. The cover and looks all use a range of organic, vintage, recycled fabrics or are manufactured with a sustainable element.
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It’s been a long and emotional day for Shakira, who unexpectedly had to attend a funeral in the morning before arriving at our shoot. This evening, after she FaceTimes her two sons, Milan, 8 and Sasha, 7, to wish them goodnight, we settle down to chat.
“I must warn you I am starting to crumble, it’s been a long day and I am really tired,” she says sweetly and apologetically, before adding (somewhat alarmingly) “this might be my worst interview in the history of my career!”
But of course, it’s not. This, after all, is Shakira: consummate professional with over three decades’ experience in the business, 15 Grammys, 18 billion YouTube views, 250million+ social media followers, an IQ of 140 and one of only a handful of stars including Madonna, Beyoncé and Rihanna known mononymously throughout the world.
Shakira exudes the megastar wattage you would expect, but I am taken by how petite she is, at just 5ft 1-and-a-quarter inches. Her diminutive stature is, however, deceptive and throughout the shoot, she displays the vision, energy and power that has propelled her to giddying levels of success. She is hands-on and clearly knows her own mind as she collaborates to get the very best looks. She’s also great fun and frequently has the team in fits of laughter.
Our conversation starts on her philanthropy and we discuss her Barefoot (Pies Descalzos) Foundation for children’s education and welfare, which she founded in 1997 in her native Colombia. And how her activism has now evolved to incorporate environmental education.
“I think education will equip us all to deal with the challenges that we’re facing as humanity right now,” she states. “One of those challenges is climate change.”
Shakira’s environmental crusade led to her appointment by Prince William to the panel of the Earthshot Prize, the Duke of Cambridge’s ambitious and prestigious environmental initiative. Every year for the next 10 years, five £1million Earthshot prizes will be awarded, providing at least 50 evidence-based solutions to the planet’s greatest environmental problems by 2030. It’s incredibly impressive.
“Seeing Prince William’s passion is very, very inspiring. It’s just incredible to see how committed he is to make change happen in such a short time.”
This year’s inaugural Earthshot awards took place in London last month and was hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
“Seeing Prince William’s passion and how genuinely determined he is to provoke change is very, very inspiring,” Shakira says. “It’s just incredible to see how committed he is, and all the people at Earthshot are, to make change happen in the world in such a short amount of time. And it’s not impossible. It requires many of us, plenty of commitment and determination, and we need to raise awareness towards that. I feel that I can do that while talking to every journalist I can. Every time I’m in front of a camera, I can talk about that… We are citizens of humanity. We need to really provoke fast change in order to preserve our home.”
To mark the launch of the Earthshot in October 2020, Shakira and Prince William released a video of a Zoom call between them, in which they discussed their shared passion for saving the planet, how to bring about change and in particular, Shakira’s passion for cleaning up the oceans.
“Prince William is one of the people who is really aware of how imminent and how necessary it is that we all work together,” she tells me. “He’s called me on the phone just to discuss this and try to get me committed to do more.”
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One thing that unites the Duke and Shakira is their responsibility as parents, and she tells me that it is her sons with her partner, Barcelona football player Gerard Piqué, who inspire her crusade.
“My children have actually been the reason why I wanted to sign on for [the Earthshot],” she declares. “Seeing them so worried, so concerned about the planet and how they can make this a better place has been so inspiring to me as a mother. As a parent, I want to make sure that they will live in a world that will be better than the one I grew up in, but it’s so fascinating to see how kids are starting to really get aware about the needs of our planet.
“I have found myself letting the tap water run and my kids scolding and telling me, ‘Mom, can you please not… You’re wasting water.’ And that is just incredible to see this in a seven-year-old and an eight-year-old.
“I also think that the young people of today will be the generation that will affect change. We have to prepare them, so they can prepare their little minds to become innovative. They are the ones that can innovate and address the challenges that we face, that are so many and can seem so impossible at times.”
And does she think we can achieve what seems impossible in the next 10 years, before – as experts warn us – the damage becomes irreversible?
“Yeah. It’s not impossible. It’s doable,” she says. “But it needs commitment; we need the commitment of governments, the private sector, civil society in general, teachers, students, everyone, celebrities. We all have to really discuss this and create a debate in society that makes us all aware of what’s at stake.”
“I want my kids to learn that they can actually make a difference. There are tangible solutions if we all work together.”
Having lived close by the ocean all her life, from Colombia to the US and Barcelona, it is Shakira’s passion for preserving the sea that is also of tremendous importance to her. In a series of BBC documentaries released on iPlayer to accompany the Earthshot prize, Shakira co-hosts Revive Our Oceans with Sir David Attenborough in which she explores the drastic impact overfishing, commercial whaling and pollution have all had. But the documentary also offers sustainability solutions and success stories, profiling projects that have revived oceans from Liberia to the United States. “What I want my kids to learn the most is that they can actually make a difference,” she says. “There are tangible solutions if we all work together.”
In the last difficult 18 months, the sea has also provided Shakira with a new personal passion: surfing! “I recently took it up as a hobby,” she tells me with glee. “I never in my wildest dreams thought I would like something like this, but it’s gotten deep under my skin, once I started surfing, I couldn’t stop!”
She credits both the physical and mental benefits of being on a surfboard in the ocean.
“I like to do sports where you have to think about every single thing in your body, the posture, the position of your knees, your toes. Every single part in your body has to adapt to what’s going on. And surfing is one of those sports.”
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We talk about the sense of freedom that she feels surfing in the ocean, how this benefits her mental health and also how it translates in her new music. Her latest single Don’t Wait Up, not only marks a new sound for her, moving into house music, but also showcases her new hobby in the video.
“I thought that surfing was a perfect metaphor for the lyrical content,” she reflects. “The song talks about escaping and feeling free and liberated. I think that’s what surfing does for me.
“For a person who is a little bit of a control freak, like I am, surfing is actually very, very therapeutic. Because I feel that when you’re out there in the ocean waiting for a wave, you can’t control anything about that environment. You can’t control the waves, you can’t control the weather, the temperature. Everything is, to a certain extent, uncomfortable. Surfing is not a comfortable sport.”
Pushing herself out of her comfort zone is clearly something Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll has been doing all her life.
Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, she is one of 10 children, although an elder half-brother died in a car crash aged 19. Shakira made her recording debut under Sony Music at the age of just 13 and her first album Magia included songs she had been writing since the age of eight. Raised a Catholic, Shakira is of Lebanese and Colombian descent and her name means ‘grateful’ in Arabic. Indeed, from a young age, her father William – a successful businessman turned author – instilled gratitude in his daughter by taking her to see homeless orphans in their neighbourhood, which she credits as driving her passion for philanthropy.
In 2018, Forbes reported Shakira as the most successful female Latin artist of all time and she is estimated to have sold 80 million records worldwide. The most famous of her English language hits are arguably Whenever, Wherever; Hips Don’t Lie and Beautiful Liar, her 2006 duet with Beyoncé.
Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber and Beyoncé have all cited her as influential on their music. From 2013 to 2014 she was a judge on the US version of The Voice and in February last year she joined forces with Jennifer Lopez on the biggest stage in America for an epic halftime performance at the Super Bowl (more on this, coming up.)
Shakira has always seemed the embodiment of female empowerment, both with her iconic performances on stage (those hips really don’t lie) and her advocacy off stage. I ask her what makes her feel empowered as a woman?
“My mother empowered me,” she replies. “She made me believe that I was able to achieve anything in life. I know that my work, my commitment towards childhood [initiatives] also empowers me as a woman. Being a parent and mother, knowing that my kids need me, that I would do anything for them and that whatever it takes I will do for them, it gives me a tremendous sense of power.”
Shakira wears Vintage top, SS05 Versace at Opulent Addict opulentaddict.com; pleated 1970s vintage maxi skirt, Zandra Rhodes at Rellik London relliklondon.co.uk; vintage bangles, Mark Davis. Hair & makeup Beatriz Matallana using Kjaer Weis.
It was while performing her hit, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) – the official anthem for the 2010 Fifa World Cup – that she met her partner and father of her two sons, Gerard. At 34, he is exactly 10 years younger than Shakira, the two sharing the same birthday. They are based in Barcelona, where they raise their boys.
I ask her how she manages that uniquely female juggle of career, marriage and motherhood?
“Sometimes I feel that I’m literally juggling everything, motherhood, being a woman, being a celebrity, an artist, always feeling that one of the apples is about to drop,” she exclaims. “But I manage to do it, like every other woman in the world who is also working and raising children. I mean, it’s something that only women can do. We can do it all. We can multitask. Something that men can’t do!”
Along with her many accolades, I note that Shakira has also recently been voted the most successful WAG in the world, beating Victoria Beckham to first place. “Oh, yes, one of my accomplishments,” she laughs. “Well, [Gerard is] a HAB right? Husband and boyfriend? I tend to forget about it, but yes, I am a WAG and I am very proud to say so!
“Part of what I have to do is also support my husband with his soccer career and watch the games. I still don’t know what an offside is. It’s been so many years and it’s the one thing I haven’t been able to get right!”
The conversation turns serious again and we discuss misogyny and prejudice both in the music industry and in wider society. I ask her if she’s ever experienced sexism?
“Maybe, but I really don’t focus on that, I think I suffered more from other kinds of prejudice, like being Colombian,” she reflects. “I remember when I had my first big break in music outside Colombia, there were many double entendre comments about what it meant to be Colombian, and usually associated with drug trafficking, all of that. It’s like, we’re always the joke, it was uncomfortable.”
How did she deal with that discomfort? “I knew that there was a lot to be done and knew that I had to prove a lot of people wrong. I knew that I had to show the world a more truthful side of my country. I needed to really share for the rest of the world what us Latinos and Colombians were about. And I’ve always had some sort of social weight on me. I represent so many minorities. I’m half Lebanese. I’m also Colombian.
“That’s why I’ve always experimented with different sounds and genres and influences, because I grew up in a melting pot, where there was a lot of immigration from different parts of the world. So I grew up making music that had a little bit of many different influences. It’s been fun to experiment and play with so many different genres of music and influences, but at the same time, I feel that deep inside it’s a huge responsibility as well.”
“I project this image of confidence, but in reality, I’m very, very insecure… Sometimes I feel empowered that I can do it all, but never without going through a process of self doubt.”
I ask whether she feels that shouldering such a responsibility can affect her confidence and if she ever suffers from self doubt?
“Oh, yeah. All the time,” she exclaims. “I’m full of complexities and contradictions. Sometimes I project this image of confidence, but in reality, I’m very, very insecure. I feel like I have this duality. It’s weird, because sometimes I feel really empowered that I can do it all, but it never happens without me going through a process of self doubt. I can never achieve anything, anything, not as a mother, not as a singer, not as a philanthropist, without thinking things out twice, a thousand times, and going through this labyrinth in my mind about what I can and I can’t do.”
Does she recall any situation in particular, I wonder?
“At the Super Bowl, for example. I mean, it’s the most important stage in the US, but I had this huge responsibility, and I feel that maybe J.Lo also felt the same way, to represent a minority and a demographic that is so much more than the clichés. We have so much to show to the world, to share with the world, and I’ve always felt that kind of responsibility.”
As talk turns to the Super Bowl, Shakira rounds up our interview by sharing yet another extraordinary story involving her infamous mane of hair and proving that even stars of her magnitude can have beauty mishaps.
“You wouldn’t believe what happened to me the night before the Super Bowl,” she confides, laughing now at the memory. “My hair is the biggest source of suffering in my life! I couldn’t even begin to tell you, things that happen to me only happen to me and my hair.
“So I was dying my hair the night before the Super Bowl, with the exact same hair dye that I use every time. And that night, my hair decided to turn black! It was [also] my birthday. It was almost midnight. And of course, the next day I had to be up and ready and perfect and fresh. But no, of course there had to be some kind of drama, especially before the Super Bowl! I was freaking out.
“We had to dye it again, using 40 [volume] peroxide water. My scalp got really irritated. A lot of stuff happened after that… But I tell you something, my hair does really cruel things to me because it’s always keeping me on the edge, but it also survives a lot. It’s very resilient.”
And with that, I’m left thinking that Shakira’s description of her hair could well be a metaphor for herself: she certainly keeps us on edge, survives a lot and is clearly very resilient.
