Shakira says career still beginning after three decades

NEW YORK

Shakira says she feels like her career is only beginning, even as she marks more than three decades in music and earns a nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Colombian performer has spent the past year on her first global tour since 2018 and recently broke an attendance record in Mexico City’s main square, the Zócalo, drawing around 400,000 fans earlier this month.

“It’s everything I ever dreamt about,” she told the Associated Press in a phone interview, describing the tour as the moment when many of her long-held artistic ambitions are coming true.

The singer first signed with Sony Music Colombia at the age of 13 and released her debut album Magia. She later achieved global success with albums such as Dónde Están los Ladrones? and Laundry Service, while her most recent release is Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran.

The Mexico City performance marked a particularly emotional moment for the singer, who said she was moved by the long-standing support of her Mexican fans. During the concert, she performed Dónde Estás Corazón, the first song of hers to be played on Mexican radio outside her native Colombia.

“It was absolutely incredible,” she said, describing the show as one of the most unforgettable experiences of her life.

The artist is also preparing for major performances at landmarks around the world, including the Pyramids of Giza and Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, where she expects an audience of around two million people.

In February, she was also announced as a nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, recognition she said felt both humbling and surreal.

Although known globally for pop and Latin hits, Shakira said rock music has always been central to her artistic identity.

“I started out as a rock artist and continued to make rock,” she said, adding that every album she releases includes rock-inspired songs.

If inducted, the singer would become the first artist from Colombia and the first Latina born and raised in Latin America to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining icons such as The Rolling Stones.

Shakira said the nomination is not only meaningful for her career but also for the communities she represents.

“I feel very proud as a Latina,” she said, adding that she hopes the recognition highlights the contributions of Latin artists to rock music.

Despite the accolades and milestones, the singer says she still feels energized about the future. Among the dreams she has yet to realize is performing at landmarks in Paris such as the Eiffel Tower or the Champs-Élysées.

“I feel at the threshold of a new beginning,” she said. “I’m really in love with making music and performing.”