Since debuting her stellar new album, Las Mujeres ya no Lloren, on March 22, Shakira has been basking in the limelight again. The album, the singer's first in seven years, was certified seven-times platinum by RIAA within its first week of release and was streamed 10 billion times globally. It's a solid comeback for a superstar who took a step back in recent years and has been vocal about the very personal hardships she's endured.
"I've gone down to hell, I've come up again, I've been in the mud, I've wiped the mud off, I've dusted myself off, and I've moved on," Shakira told The Latin Times earlier this week. "So now it's like you have a certain freedom, right? And a certain power too."
While making the press rounds to promote her album, Shakira stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and joked about the source of much of that personal turmoil -- her breakup with ex-partner Gerard Piqué.
"I was putting out songs here and there but it was really hard for me to put together a body of work," the "Waka Waka" hitmaker said, referring to the 11-year relationship. "It was the husband. Now I'm husband-less. Yeah, the husband was dragging me down. Now I'm free. Now I can actually work."
In June 2022, she announced her split from Piqué amid rumors of infidelity on his part. (While Shakira would affectionately refer to him as "husband," the two never legally wed.) After that split, she began to pour her thoughts and feelings out in the studio.
The album's title comes from a lyric in the song "Bzrp: Music Sessions, Vol. 53" with Argentinian DJ Bizarrap, which broke numerous streaming and viewership records when it was released last January and also won 2023's Latin Grammy for Song of the Year. The line goes: "Te creíste que me heriste y me volviste más dura / Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan." (Translation: "You thought you'd hurt me, but you made me stronger / Women no longer cry, women get paid.")
It's an energy that she's embracing and that she says she's going to take on the road. Details are still in the works, but Shakira revealed that a "tour of a lifetime" will start this year and include the U.S., Latin America, and Spain. This would be her first tour since 2018.
"This tour is more than a series of concerts. It's a celebration, a testament to survival and strength," she said of her plans and state of mind. "I am in love with feeling powerful."
