Shakira nearly retired from the music business, but why?
Pop star Shakira has admitted that she nearly retired from making music.
Shakira has considered retiring from the music business.
The 49-year-old singer is one of the world's best-selling musicians, but Shakira has revealed that she nearly walked away from the music business "a few years ago".
The Grammy-winning star told Vogue: "A few years ago, I was ready to just buy a farm, raise animals, and retire from music.
"But I look back, and I’m like, ‘How crazy is that?’ I had and have so much more to say and to do. Sometimes we just take what we do for granted, or just forget about who we are."
Shakira still relishes performing live for her fans, despite her decades-long career in the music business.
The singer - who has sons Milan, 13, and Sasha, 11, with her ex-partner, former soccer star Gerard Pique - said: "I think that when I perform, I don’t just do it in front of ‘an audience'.
"I do it surrounded by my family. I feel that my fans, those who have fun in the crowd, those who have listened to my music for so long … I feel they really understand me, and they also know my flaws. They don’t condemn my defects.
"There’s a sense of comfort when I am on stage. I’m just living in the moment with a group of people that have been there for me and who, really, I feel I have a strong friendship with."
Shakira has developed a strong connection with her fans over the years.
The chart-topping pop star feels free to be her authentic self whenever she takes to the stage and performs live.
Shakira - who split from Pique in acrimonious circumstances in 2022 - said: "I don’t at all feel there are judges.
"It’s almost like a communion, you know. When we go through a repertoire of songs that have been a part of people’s lives for so long, and have been a soundtrack for so many of them, and to mine as well, it makes us have something in common that is just unbreakable.
"That makes me feel really at ease, and happy, and celebratory that this is my career now more than ever, you know?"
