They say a woman’s first love, if she’s lucky, is her father. And that’s Shakira‘s case. “My mother has always been my partner in crime, and my father is my best friend,” the Colombian singer tells People en Español exclusively about her dad, William Mebarak, 91, who has always been in her corner, loving her unconditionally.
In June of 2022, the singer—who tops People en Español’s 50 Most Beautiful of 2023 list—announced she was parting ways with the former professional soccer player and the father of her boys: Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8. Amid her painful breakup, the singer’s father faced a serious health crisis.
“While he was at Milan’s first communion, he was gravely injured in an accident,” Shakira, 46, states as she recalls her father’s fall in her house in Barcelona. “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 ICU. I thought I wasn’t going to survive so much.”
Her dreams of a happy ending with the Spanish soccer star, 36, came crashing down while “the man I have loved the most in my life, my father, was leaving me when I needed him the most,” she adds about her then-hospitalized dad. “I couldn’t talk to him or go to my best friend for the advice I needed so much.”
Seeing Mebarak fight to regain his health and celebrate his 91st birthday surrounded by his loved ones last September inspired her to be strong. “His recovery has been very hard and slow, but he is a wonderful man and an endearing character who surprises us all with his strength,” she says about her hero.
“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. My dad is the biggest example of resilience, and my mother has been by his side day and night.”
Mebarak and Nidia Ripoll “have both been a reflection of that dream that didn’t come true for me,” Shakira says about her parents’ decades-long marriage. “But I hope they’re role models for my kids of love, of patience in relationships, of absolute devotion and zest for life.”
Her desire to laugh again and heal her heart was deep-rooted, like her love for her kids. Shakira moved many to tears with her song “Acróstico,” dedicated to Milan and Sasha. After three decades of singing about love and heartbreak, the Colombian star delivered a song inspired by the purest love: a mother’s devotion to her kids, both of whom sang with her on the track.
“All I want is your happiness,” says one of the verses.
She looks happy after her triumphant return to Miami in April with her kids, where the three have started a new life. “They are everything to me; they are my reason to live,” says the proud mom. “They inject me with an indescribable strength every day, and they fill my day-to-day with joy.”
Instead of drowning in tears after her breakup, Shakira has had a glorious rebirth, showing us that “women no longer cry; women cash in.” This verse of her song “Music Sessions #53” with Bizarrap has become an empowering mantra for women worldwide. The song reached the number one spot on Spotify globally, and its music video has over 500 million views on YouTube.
“Music saved my life and gave me wings to fly,” Shakira says. “It allowed me to be myself; it rescued me from the most difficult moments. It connected with who I really am when I felt lost. When I couldn’t recognize myself, music was my mirror.”
The Barranquilla-born singer scored another hit with her song “TQG” with Karol G, which also reached the top spot on Spotify. On June 29, Shakira will release her latest song: “Copa Vacía” with Manuel Turizo. For this new music video, she is transformed into a mythical mermaid—a beautiful, seductive singing creature.
Music saved my life and gave me wings to fly. It allowed me to be myself, it rescued me from the most difficult moments. It connected with who I really am, when I felt lost. When I couldn’t recognize myself, music was my mirror
At home in South Florida now, she’s settling into a new routine where Sasha and Milan are priority number one. “I have little free time. I have had to devote myself this year to fighting to keep my kids afloat, my parents, and my new life outside of Spain. To provide a new home for my kids,” she says.
“I try to work or do something fun when the kids are at school or when they are with their dad. The rest of the time, I’m with them and all about them, working to provide them with a structure that brings them stability. Little by little, I am achieving that, rebuilding the nest,” the singer details.
Little by little, she also seems to be moving on the emotional front, too. This summer, she’s been spotted in Miami with Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, 38, and at one of his races at the Barcelona Grand Prix, as well as dining with him and friends in the capital of Spain’s Catalonia region, where she lived with Piqué for over a decade.
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer has also reconnected with colleagues and friends in Miami, like music icon Juan Luis Guerra, whose concert she attended with Milan, reuniting backstage with Turizo and Lili Estefan. She was also feted Billboard‘s “Woman of the Year” in a gala attended by friends like Maluma.
She’s enjoyed Miami Heat basketball games with her sons and hung out with actor Tom Cruise and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am at Miami’s Grand Prix races.
Wherever she happens to be in the world, music has been a constant. “I’m very excited about my new music and can’t wait to share it, all this narrative that has developed along with events in my life, and talks about the different stages I have gone through spiritually, mentally, and even physically,” she says.
“I’ve gone through denial, rage, pain, acceptance, grief, hope, deception, hope again, excitement. So many emotions and feelings that at times seem mixed, that didn’t seem to be able to coexist inside of me, that I have been able to untangle only through my songs, to understand myself better. Not to explain or justify myself, only to understand myself and stand myself,” Shakira asserts.
I’ve gone through denial, rage, pain, acceptance, grief, hope, deception, hope again, excitement. So many emotions and feelings that at times seem mixed, that didn’t seem to be able to coexist inside of me, that I have been able to untangle only through my songs
Still, “there are days and there are days,” she says.
“There’s a little bit of everything. There are days when I feel strong. There are days when I feel I have lived through so many tough things that I can face anything. My whole life I’ve been scared of facing the things that I’ve had to face in the end, and I have survived them. I thought I couldn’t do it; however, the resilience of human beings, especially women, is inexhaustible.”
