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Backstage with Shakira as we reveal the truth about her life on the road and she teases massive UK shows
“DON’T you see, baby, this is perfection?” Shakira sings in front of a 65,000-strong crowd at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
As she wiggles her bum and gives the audience a cheeky grin, it is hard to disagree with the Colombian superstar.
Two decades after she first sang that line from Hips Don’t Lie, she is reaching incredible new heights — and it has now been confirmed that hers is the biggest female tour of 2025 so far, by both box office takings and ticket sales.
Outselling Beyonce and Lady Gaga, Shakira has hit a new stride in the five years since she last performed at the Florida venue for her Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez, which for many artists is considered the pinnacle of their career.
But now she is having the best time on the road with her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour — translated as Women No Longer Cry — which is why she invited me, Bizarre’s Howell, out to Miami where she lives with her two sons.
Shakira took me backstage for a UK newspaper exclusive at the first of two sold-out shows on Friday.
After her performance, I couldn’t help but tell her how much I’m looking forward to her long- rumoured UK dates next year.
‘Better journey’
Confirming they will indeed be happening, she says: “I can’t wait.”
After giving me a massive hug, the down-to-earth and downright lovely star continues: “You flew all this way just for me? Thank you so much.”
And reflecting on the show, she beams: “I had so much fun.”
That’s evident from the moment Shakira bursts on to the stage, after a film showed an AI version of the singer with a missing arm, emerging from a pile of sand and putting itself back together.
That symbolism is important because this is Shakira’s first tour since a torrid spell which threatened to derail not just her career but her life.
She has been dragged through the Spanish courts over an unpaid tax bill, which was settled in November 2023.
At the same time, she had a highly publicised split from former footballer Gerard Pique after 11 years together.
It followed allegations he had cheated.
The hurt has inspired a lot of Shakira’s art.
She opens the two-hour show with her 2024 song La Fuerte, which features lyrics about waking up alone and deleting an ex’s number.
In an empowering speech, she tells the crowd: “Many of you know that the past years haven’t been the easiest for me, right? But who doesn’t have a fall here and there, right? What I’ve learned is that a fall isn’t the end, but the beginning of an even better journey.”
And there are more nods to those difficulties in her personal life.
During Te Felicit, a song in which she says congratulations to a man who has broken her heart, she tries to reprogram a dancer dressed as a male robot so that he isn’t a misogynist.
But he still touches her bum and turns out to be a dud in bed when she gets cosy with him in the centre of the stage.
During one interlude, there are visuals of a wolf with two cubs, representing the She-Wolf singer and her sons Milan, 12, and Sasha, ten, who both lend their vocals to song Acrostico.
But Shakira balances her own turmoil with fun and froth — with a whopping 14 outfits on show.
For her second song, the catchy Black Eyed Peas collaboration Girl Like Me, she unzips her jacket to show a silver vest top, which she then tears off to reveal a glittery pink mini dress.
There is a sea of lights across the stadium as fans wave their light-up wristbands in unison. And Shakira pulls on everything from sparkly bodysuits to ball gowns and bra tops.
I’m told it took ten months to design the show, and given the attention to detail you can see why.
At 48, Shakira seems to have discovered the elixir of life, because she looks and moves like someone half her age.
By the halfway point of the concert, temperatures are 30C and I have sweat running down my face.
Yet Shakira, who is marking three decades since her first headline concert, is running across the stage and twerking without so much as a moist brow.
In fact, she looks even fitter and healthier than when she first became a household name in the UK in the early-Noughties.
She is in tip-top form for this tour, which kicked off in February and Shakira describes as her “most ambitious”.
She is constantly working out and has two physiotherapists with her on the road.
And I can attest that her backstage catering area, where I had dinner before the show, has plenty of healthy options including grilled red snapper, Peruvian chicken and cauliflower steak.
A significant part of the show features Spanish-language songs, which have sometimes held the singer back in the UK, given most of us Brits can barely understand a word.
Tender moment
But as more and more non- English acts gain traction here in Blighty — such as K-Pop stars BTS and Blackpink and Spanish-speaking rapper Bad Bunny — now is her time.
At the show she is joined by two special guests: Puerto Rican singer Ozuna, to perform their song Monotonia together for the first time, and Spanish Alejandro Sanz for the danceable La Tortura.
During Soltera she pole- dances on a giant letter S before changing the pace for the piano-driven ballad Ultima, which she sings atop a mound of diamonds.
When the tour does eventually come to our shores, it is bound to be the English language tunes that keep the audience on their feet.
There’s an understated rendition of her 2002 belter Underneath Your Clothes, a traditional dance with knives for her megahit Whenever Wherever, and a mass howl-along for She-Wolf, complete by a gigantic wolf image that towers over the audience.
Then she throws an on-stage, multi- coloured carnival for 2010 smash-hit World Cup anthem, Waka Waka (This Time For Africa).
One surprising omission from the setlist is Beautiful Liar, her 2006 collaboration with Beyonce, which topped the charts here.
But in a tender moment, Shakira reveals it was her fellow artist’s 2023 Renaissance tour that inspired her to organise her own.
Shakira, whose North American dates were upgraded from arenas to stadiums due to overwhelming demand, explains: “To see this place this packed, it’s a dream for me. It’s surreal.
“The last time I came to Hard Rock Stadium, I saw Beyonce’s show and I said to myself, ‘How amazing would it be if I could play the stadium one day?’
“How amazing that tonight, I’m here playing two stadiums. I have the best crowd in the world. You make all of my dreams come true.”
There is no doubt that she is stronger than ever before.
This show cemented Shakira as a true music icon.
OZZY UP FOR GIG ONLINE
OZZY OSBOURNE’s massive farewell performance at Villa Park on July 5 sold out in minutes, but you’ll now be able to watch the legend on a livestream.
Fans who missed out on the chance to attend the Back To The Beginning concert, which has a star-studded line-up including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Slayer and Pantera, can buy tickets to watch a stream at backtothebeginning.com – meaning you can host the big concert at home.
Ozzy’s wife Sharon said: “We had such overwhelming demand from fans around the globe who couldn’t get tickets to the show, and they took to social media, pleading with us to broadcast a livestream.
“Seeing as this is such a historic event, we couldn’t let them down.”
JET setter Rita Ora was back on stage at the World Club Dome festival in Frankfurt on Saturday, mere hours after singing at Washington Pride on Friday.
But I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d lost her suitcase in the rush over, as she was missing some gear when she performed in her bra and pants.
HARRY TASH FOR XX BASH
HARRY STYLES made a rare public outing to party the night away at a Jamie XX gig on Saturday.
The Watermelon Sugar singer, who is on a break from music, was spotted in the VIP section at Lido Festival in East London, where producer Jamie had curated the line-up ahead of his headline performance.
Harry wore a blue baseball cap, hoody and jacket for the event to try to go unnoticed, but was still spotted by eagle-eyed fans.
The moustachioed star had an extra-special treat when Jamie reunited his band The XX on stage, bringing out Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim.
But he won’t have long to wait for music from them as I’m told they’ve almost completed their first album in eight years.
This week in Bizness...
TODAY: The new live action remake of How To Train Your Dragon, featuring Gerard Butler and Nick Frost, finally lands at cinemas – 15 years after the original hit animation arrived on screen.
TOMORROW: Sydney Sweeney joins Julianna Moore and Domhnall Gleeson in London for the European premiere of their film Echo Valley ahead of its Friday launch on Apple TV+.
WEDNESDAY: James kick off ten days of shows at Hampton Court Palace Festival, with Rag’N’Bone Man, Tom Jones, Chaka Khan, Elbow, Bananarama and Gary Barlow also on the bill.
SUNDAY: The Capital Summertime Ball takes over London’s Wembley Stadium with a star-studded line- up including chart-toppers Mariah Carey, Will Smith, Benson Boone, Lola Young and Tate McRae.
Thomas Frank to become new Tottenham manager after beating off competition from Marco Silva and Andoni Iraola
THOMAS FRANK has agreed to become the new Tottenham manager.
SunSport understands that following talks over the weekend, the Brentford boss is set to replace Ange Postecoglou imminently.
Frank, 51, wants to make the switch across London which will end his near-seven year spell with the Bees.
The only matter left to discuss is the compensation package that chairman Daniel Levy must pay to G-Tech stadium chiefs.
Spurs brutally sacked Postecoglou on Friday despite the Aussie ending their 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League last month.
And Levy is moving quickly to appoint the Dane, who guided Brentford to a 10th place Premier League finish this season.
Fulham manager Marco Silva and Bournemouth‘s Andoni Iraola have been in the running but Frank is expected to become the fourth permanent Tottenham boss in the last four years.
Frank joined Brentford in 2018 and after promotion to the top-flight less than three years later, he has made them an established Prem club.
The Dane already wants to bring Bryan Mbuemo, 25, with him to North London with Spurs trying to hijack Manchester United’s proposed deal for the Cameroonian winger.
Although that could cost Levy up to £70million with a possible £10m compensation package for Frank, plus £60m for Mbuemo’s services.
BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK
That would test Totteham’s financial power, especially as Mbuemo is thought to be demanding around £250,000 per-week in wages, which would make him the club’s highest-paid player.
But Spurs’ victory over United in Bilbao does mean they can offer him Champions League football.
Frank will also be tasked with a significant improvement in the Premier League following Tottenham’s worst ever finish.
Despite Postecoglou’s European success, he oversaw a club-record 22 Prem defeats, which resulted in them coming 17th.
UK’s ‘outrageous’ migrant hotel bill revealed & it takes every penny in tax from all people in city as big as MANCHESTER
BRITAIN’S £4.7billion annual bill to keep migrants in hotels and look after them takes every penny of tax from 582,000 workers.
The shocking new statistic is equivalent to every grafter in Manchester stumping up for asylum seekers through their pay packet.
Jamie Jenkins, who did the research, said: “This isn’t just unsustainable. It’s outrageous.
“A government that borrows billions each year, can’t control borders, and taxes its citizens to pay for hotel rooms and housing for people who’ve just arrived is not working for the British public.
“It’s time for a system that protects the people who pay in. That rewards contribution. That puts citizens first.”
Latest figures show there were 32,345 asylum seekers staying in up to 220 hotel.
It costs £41,000 a year to house each, up from £17,000 in 2020.
Ex-Office for National Statistics analyst Mr Jenkins found the average UK salary was £38,224.
Each worker pays income tax and National Insurance contributions of £8,081. So 582,000’s entire tax bills go on housing migrants — equal to the working population of Manchester.
And it is significantly larger than the employed populations of Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.
The total is also higher than the tax contributions of every UK mechanic and HGV driver combined.
A total £4.7billion went on asylum support in 2023-24 — £3.1billion on accomodation.
The rest went on grants to local authorities, running sites like the disused Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset, plus £49-a-week subsistence allowance.
The £4.7billion total was up from 2022-23’s £3.6bn.
Nearly 15,000 people have crossed to Dover in 2025, up 42 per cent on this time year.
French cops, given £480million of UK taxpayer cash, are failing to intercept them.
