Being an immigrant in the US 'means living in constant fear', Shakira tells BBC

Inside Miami's Hard Rock stadium, a note is taped to the door of Shakira's production office.

"Please come back later...unless you're on fire."

The handwritten pink note suggests an entirely understandable level of stress for the team organising the biggest stadium tour of the year.

With 64 sold-out shows across the Americas, Shakira has performed for more than two million fans.

"I've worked for over a year, refining every detail of the show, so this is an incredible reward," he tells the BBC.

There's no nervousness or screaming backstage before the Miami show...and no one is on fire.

The atmosphere is relaxed and professional. Ballerinas stretch in the hallways, seamstresses sew crystals onto jumpsuits, and guitar technicians check the tunings.

Some facts about the tour are impressive.

“We travel with two washing machines and two dryers, which we hook up at each location,” said costume designer Hannah Kinkade, who looks after nearly 300 costumes.

Each costume needs to be renewed before a new show, he explains, because "Shakira dances with a lot of intensity and so do the ballerinas."

"Ballerinas wear out their shoes so much that we have to repaint them every morning."

Stage manager Kevin Rowe shows us the dark corridors beneath the stage, where the crew keeps secret stashes of Gatorade and iced coffee to survive the sweltering Miami heat.

"It's either really hot or really rainy," Rowe says of working an outdoor show. "But that's the downside of living underground."

Perfectionist boss

Around 2:30 p.m., the band begins their soundcheck. Shortly after 3 p.m., Shakira arrives with her hips that don't lie, with a police escort, and joins the stage crew.

Wearing silver bell-bottom jeans and a white tank top, she can't control herself and dances as she assesses the venue for that night's show.

"I came here for Beyoncé 's show and everything was flawless, so they better make me sound as good as she does," he jokes to the team.

Or maybe he's not joking so much?

Shakira delivers the joke with a wink, but there's something everyone recognizes behind the scenes: the boss is a perfectionist.

"When she's on, she's on," says principal dancer Darina Littleton.

"When she comes in, she's ready, her character is ready, she's delivered to the audience."

"She knows what she wants, and if she can't get it, she'll get it one way or another," says musical director Tim Mitchell, who has played with Shakira since the '90s — including writing the flute riff on Suerte.

"She's so meticulous about every aspect of the show: the sound, the visuals, the lighting, the bracelets, everything. It's incredible. I don't know how she does it."

Obsession bears fruit.

Shakira's show consists of two and a half hours of musical drama: a non-stop parade of bilingual hits, 13 costume changes and constant movement.

She does a Lebanese-inspired belly dance during Ojos asím , a tribal knife routine to introduce Whenever, Wherever, strums a Flying V guitar during Objection (Tango), and gets the audience howling with an electrifying rendition of She Wolf .

Successful tour

The tour is called Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (in English, Women Don't Cry Anymore ), in homage to her latest album, drawing inspiration from some of her most intense heartbreaks and personal problems she has ever experienced.

Her 11-year relationship with footballer Gerard Piqué ended at the same time as her father underwent emergency brain surgery, and Spanish authorities accused her of tax fraud for 14.5 million euros (R$92.5 million at current exchange rates), a case that was resolved through an out-of-court settlement.

"Many of you know that the last few years have not been easy for me," she says on stage. "But who doesn't fall down every now and then, right?"

"What I've learned is that a fall is not the end of everything, but the beginning of an even better path."

More specifically, this turbulence propelled her into a creative surge that put her back at the center of the cultural scene, after seven years of musical silence.

In 2023, Bzrp Music Sessions Vol. 53, a track created with Argentine producer Bizarrap, was full of indirect digs at Piqué and his new girlfriend — "that you traded a Rolex for a Casio" — and won Song of the Year at the Latin Grammys.

She continued with the theme in a series of successful singles such as the sarcastic Te felicito and TQG , a duet with fellow Colombian Karol G, which has already accumulated 1.3 billion views on Spotify.

"She's such an inspiration to women," said one fan, who wore furry wolf ears just before the show. "She's done it all. She's power."

Shakira's commitment to the show is such that she wanted our interview to be done after she came off the stage. So, shortly after midnight, she emerges from her dressing room looking fresher than a field of daisies.

"I'm warning you that I might say some things that don't make sense," he said with a laugh. "I'm still recovering."

"Today it was very hot and humid. When it's like that, or when it's at altitude, it's a big challenge, but it's totally worth it."

What happens when she is tired or sick?

"To put on a show of this size and have it happen every night, it doesn't matter if you're sad, if you've had a bad day, if you're sick or have a cough, you just have to give it your all and miraculously make it happen."

"And the adrenaline actually doesn't let me feel tired or how demanding it can be. It helps me get through everything."

Immigrant life in the USA

Performing in Miami was particularly meaningful, he says, because it's the city he moved to as a young man, hoping to break into the Western pop market.

By then, she was already a star in Colombia, but she knew that international success meant singing in English. The only problem was that she hadn't learned the language.

"I was 19 years old when I moved to the United States, like many Colombian immigrants who come to this country in search of a better future," he says.

"And I remember being surrounded by Spanish-English dictionaries and synonym dictionaries, because at that time there was no Google or ChatGPT to help. So everything was very precarious," she comments.

"I soon immersed myself in poetry and started reading some Leonard Cohen, Walt Whitman and Bob Dylan, trying to understand how English works in songwriting. I think that's how I became good at it."

Lately, she has been reflecting a lot on these experiences, her acceptance in the United States and how this contrasts with the Donald Trump administration's stance towards immigrants.

When she accepted her Grammy for best Latin pop album earlier this year, she addressed the situation directly.

"I want to dedicate this award to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country. You are loved, you are valued, and I will always fight with you," he said.

I ask what it's like to be an immigrant in the United States today.

"It means living in constant fear. And it's painful to see that," he replies.

"Now, more than ever, we must stand together. Now, more than ever, we must speak out and make it very clear that a country can change its immigration policies, but the treatment of all people must always be humane."

It's a blunt statement, delivered in both English and Spanish, as Shakira addresses her Latino fans directly.

This connection is the basis of the success of her tour: her fans grew up with Shakira and see themselves reflected in her.

Shakira and her children

In Miami, the audience spans generations: mothers and daughters sing along to 90s hits like Pies descalzos, sueños blancos, and dance to the rhythm of Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).

Therefore, the climax of the show comes during Acróstico , which Shakira wrote for her children, in which she promises them that she will remain strong after her separation from Piqué.

As she sings, Sasha, 12, and Milan, 10, appear on the screens, singing with their mother.

"My heart melts every time I see them on that screen and hear those little voices," Shakira acknowledges. "They are everything to me. They are my driving force and the reason I am alive. So to have them with me on stage every night is a precious moment."

This is the first time the children are old enough to see their mother perform in concert, and she confesses that they have mixed feelings about it.

"When I have a show, they get a little stressed because they want everything to go perfectly for me," he says.

"They're always worried, asking, 'Mommy, how was it? Did you fall? Are you OK?' And I try to show them that there's no such thing as a perfect show. It's okay to make a mistake."