Shakira talks split from Gerard Piqué: “It felt like someone had stabbed a hole in my chest”

Shakira is opening up about her split from ex-husband Gerard Piqué.

In a new cover story for Rolling Stone, Shakira detailed how she felt after the pair announced their breakup in June 2022.

“The suffering I felt was probably the greatest I had ever experienced in my entire life, and it kept me from functioning at times,” Shakira said.

“It felt like someone had stabbed a hole in my chest,” Shakira continued. “And the sensation was so real, almost physical. I physically felt like I had a hole in my chest and that people could see through me.”

Shakira said several famous friends checked in on her during that rough period, including Coldplay‘s Chris Martin. Out of support, Chris once sent her a picture of a shattered vase glued back together.

“Kintsugi — you’re going to be so much stronger once this is over,” Chris told Shakira at the time, referencing a Japanese style of art.

“That’s the ­metaphor. That you break, and then you get fixed with gold, and you’re more beautiful than you were before,” Martin said. “For anyone going through a hard time, me included at times, that’s a really powerful thing to hold on to.”

Returning to music has brought Shakira out of her heartbreak, she says.

“This has been a journey back to myself and the way there was through my music,” Shakira said. “I’m in a moment where the worst has happened, and this process woke up a new sense of autonomy and independence in me.”