Spanish defender Gerard Piqué and Colombian superstar Shakira are calling off their long-term relationship, which spanned over a decade.
KAMPALA | NOW THEN DIGITAL — Colombian star Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, better known as Shakira, and Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué announced they were ending their relationship on Saturday.
- Shakira and her husband announced their separation just a week after a Barcelona court rejected Shakira’s appeal for standing trial in Spain for tax fraud.
- Both Shakira and Pique share two sons, and they have lived together for years on the outskirts of Barcelona.
- Three-time Grammy-winner Shakira, whose hit songs include “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever,” combines Latin and Arabic rhythms with rock influences.
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Shakira is one of the biggest names in the music industry and is known for such hits as Hips Don’t Lie. Has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.
Barcelona defender Pique, 35, won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship.
He is also a three-time champion in the Champions League.
Besides sharing two sons, Shakira and Gerard Piqué have lived together for years on the outskirts of Barcelona. Sasha Piqué Mebarak and Milan Piqué Mebarak are the couple’s sons.
“We regret to confirm that we are separating. For the well-being of our children, who are our utmost priority, we request respect for (our) privacy,” they said in a statement.
Grammy-winning Shakira, who mixes Latin rhythms with Arabic motifs and rock elements, is one of Latin America’s biggest music stars, with such hit songs as “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever”.
Jennifer Lopez performed with her at the NFL’s Super Bowl championship final in Miami in 2020, which is usually one of the most-watched half-hours on US television.
Tax fraud case against Shakira
[Just over a week earlier, Spanish court documents brought Shakira closer to facing trial for tax fraud in Spain following the dismissal of Shakira’s appeal.]
Just over a week earlier, Spanish court documents had made Shakira closer to facing tax fraud charges in Spain after a Barcelona court dismissed an appeal by the singer.
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She is accused of defrauding the Spanish tax office of 14.5 million euros ($15.5 million) on income earned between 2012 and 2014.
After her relationship with Pique became public, she moved to Spain in 2011, but her official tax residency was still in the Bahamas until 2015.
She moved to Spain full time in 2015 according to her defence lawyers, and her tax dealings have always been impeccable in all the countries she paid taxes in.
The singer told AFP in 2019 that temporarily losing her voice two years earlier had been one of the “darkest moments” of her life.
As a result, she was able to recover her voice without surgery, as recommended by doctors, and carried out a world tour later in 2018.
Shakira and Gerard Piqué Relationship: Couple Announces Their Separation After 11 Years of Marriage via @nowthendigital https://t.co/1Y2XKyAkJc #Shakira #ShakirayPique #ShakiraPique
— Now Then Digital (@NowThenDigital) June 5, 2022
