Two sons and seven years is more than enough of a commitment for Shakira, whose partner Gerard Piqué has expressed his desire to make her his Mrs. "Having two children together already makes me feel married, not to mention that our lives and our careers are completely devoted to each other," she said in a new interview with Vanity Fair Italia. “I don't think a piece of paper is needed to make this a marriage."
Shakira covers Vanity Fair Italy Photo: Jaume De Laiguana
The successful pair, who share sons Milan, four and Sasha, two, have been together since meeting prior to the 2010 World Cup. From the beginning, both have been at the height of their careers — Gerard a star athlete and Shakira a world-famous performer. After becoming a mum twice over, the Me Enamore singer considered retiring, but it was her longterm love that changed her mind. "He said loud and clear that he would never let me retire," she shared. "He was right. I was just scared."
Gerard's inspiration resulted in Shakira's 11th studio album El Dorado. "Writing an album from scratch seemed an impossible task, like I had to climb Everest," she said about the pressure and fear that came with getting back in the studio ahead of the album's May release. After debuting La Bicicleta with Carlos Vives, she was back in the zone, but this time it was much more fun. "Today, I am a mother and that is my real job," the She Wolf singer said. "Music has become my hobby, and that's why I can do it in a relaxed way. I never thought I'd say such a thing. I've been working since I was 14 years old."
The She Wolf singer said that she doesn't need a piece of paper to define marriage Photo: Getty Images
One thing she is not 'relaxed' about is caring for her children. "I am a tiger mum," the Colombian-born popstar admitted. "I use a lot of time and energy to make sure my children are fully developing their cognitive, creative and behavioral skills." She even joked that she wished she could be more like the French per a study she read in terms of who is more relaxed. "That is not me unfortunately," she said. "I live all with my passion and since motherhood is my full time job, I put a lot of energy there. It's beautiful, electrifying, wonderful, but exhausting at the same time."
Becoming famous and being in the spotlight since a teen, the 40-year-old understands that her boys are growing up in a very different world than her days in Barranquilla. "It is true that my children are growing with more resources than I have, but the difficulties are still there," she noted. "They will struggle to find their way. One thing I'm concerned is that they grow up by learning many languages because that is the way to know different cultures and to open their minds."
Music has become a hobby next to Shakira's full-time job as a mother Photo: Instagram/@shakira
Part of their exploration of new culture came this summer when Shakira and her boys, who reside in Spain, spent a week in Boston. During their time as Gerard took part in the Harvard Business School’s Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports executive education program, the Déjà vu singer and her family took in the sights and went to see the Blue Man Group on June 3.