Q&A: How Shakira turned pain into art on her first album in seven years, ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’

By MARIA SHERMAN
AP Music Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The last few years haven’t been kind to Shakira. In 2022, after 11 years and two children together, she separated from soccer player Gerard Piqué, leading to what she calls the “dissolution” of her family. She faced charges of tax evasion in Spain; in November 2023, she received a suspended three-year sentence and paid a fine of 7.3 million euros (or $8 million) in addition to previously unpaid taxes and interest. “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” which translates to “Women No Longer Cry,” is her first new album in seven years. On it, Shakira transforms her pain into art. Shakira tells The Associated Press that during this tumultous period of her life, she feels “music was the glue.”