Instead, they built a quiet empire in Barcelona. Shakira moved from her native Colombia to Piqué’s hometown, a sacrifice she would later note was both romantic and challenging. They had two sons—Milan and Sasha—and their Instagram feeds were a curated museum of wholesome happiness: beach days, bicycle rides, Piqué holding a World Cup trophy while Shakira held a baby.

The man who locked himself in a closet to win her over had, according to the narrative, been caught texting another woman. The dignified silence that followed was deafening—until Shakira decided to speak the only language the world understands: music. If the relationship was a private fairy tale, the breakup became a public demolition derby—and Shakira won.

South Africa, 2010. The FIFA World Cup. Shakira had just been commissioned to perform the tournament’s official anthem, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) . Piqué, the 23-year-old Spanish heartthrob, was about to win the first of his two European Championships and a World Cup.

Spanish news agency Europa Press reported that the couple had separated. The reason? Infidelity. Piqué, it emerged, had allegedly been seeing a younger woman, a PR worker named Clara Chía Martí. The timeline was brutal: the affair supposedly began while Shakira was at home, isolated and immunocompromised after a bout of COVID-19, caring for their children and her aging father.

In January 2023, she released BZRP Music Sessions #53 with Argentine producer Bizarrap. It was not a sad ballad. It was a scalpel dipped in battery acid.