Shakira vividly remembers first learning about the alleged infidelity of Gerard Piqué, the father of her children Sasha and Milan.
The Colombian singer revealed Monday that she was still reeling from their split when her father, William Mebarak Chadid, was hospitalized after a fall. She suddenly found herself alone — and recalled thinking she “wasn’t going to survive” the snowballing chaos.
“He went to Barcelona to console me after I was consumed with sadness because of my separation,” she told People. “While he was at Milan’s first communion, he was gravely injured in an accident. Everything happened at once. My home was falling apart.”
“I was finding out through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in the ICU,” Shakira continued.
The Grammy winner recalled how desperate she was to speak to her dad, “the man I have loved the most in my life,” and that his accident occurred “when I needed him the most” and all she wanted was “to go to my best friend for the advice I needed.”
Her father has since recovered.
“He has overcome COVID once, two accidents, one pneumonia and five surgeries — all of this at 91 years of age, in less than six months,” Shakira told People. “My dad is the biggest example of resilience, and my mother has been by his side day and night.”
Chris Pizzello/Associated Press
That heartening relationship was naturally difficult to contrast to her own, as she and Piqué announced their split in a statement last June before he went Instagram-official with his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Martí. Shakira has since released several breakup songs.
“They have both been a reflection of that dream that didn’t come true for me,” Shakira told People about her family-oriented parents. “But I hope they are role models for my kids of love, of patience in relationships, of absolute devotion and zest for life.”
Shakira split with the retired soccer player, who played an integral part in Spain’s win at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after 11 years together. The singer recently quoted former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in slamming Piqué’s new lover.
She is, of course, most interested in channeling her tumultuous past few years into more cathartic tracks than the handful of diss songs that last year’s breakup records essentially were — and told People she’s “very excited” to release them.
“I have gone through denial, rage, pain, acceptance, grief, hope, deception, hope again, excitement,” she told the outlet. “So many emotions and feelings…that I have been able to untangle only through my songs, to understand myself better.”
She continued, “Not to explain or justify myself, only to understand myself and tolerate myself.”