Shakira has taken home the very first Woman of the Year award at Billboard’s inaugural Latin Women in Music awards – and she’s used her moment in the spotlight to highlight the resilience and strength of women!
Taking to the stage at the May 6 event in Miami, the superstar was honoured for her many record-breaking achievements (‘Monotonia’ was the biggest Spanish-language debut of 2022, her ‘BZRP Music Sessions #53’ made her the first woman with a Spanish-language song to reach a top 10 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and lots more).
“I’ve seen firsthand that Shakira writes her songs from the heart and her experiences,” fellow Colombian superstar Maluma said in Spanish as he presented the award. “And this year, she was able to turn adversity into art, emotions and pain into music, and made history with her lyrics.”
Shakira, who has been through a very public split from ex-husband, footballer Gerard Piqué, also spoke in Spanish while accepting the award, acknowledging the challenges she’s faced:
“This has been a year of seismic change in my life, where I’ve felt more than ever and very personally what it is to be a woman. And what it means. It’s been a year where I’ve realised we women are stronger than we think, braver than we believed, more independent than we were taught to be.”
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She goes on to explain how music has helped her stay on track when she “felt most lost” and how her biggest lessons have come from other women.
“And for them, I wrote what I wrote and I sang what I sang. Because only a woman can love until she’s ripped apart, can speak with the most brutal honesty, can sing with anger, dance with ecstasy and be brought to tears with emotion.”
Shakira took a moment to highlight the woman who inspires her most, “my mother, Nidia Ripoli. Mami, despite the hardships you’ve faced this year, you’re still standing with limitless love and resilience.”
She described her Mami as her Woman of the Year, along with the sisterhood which has stood by and supported her.
“I receive this honour with lots of love, but for me, more than celebrating the women of the year, we should celebrate the year of the woman.”
Watch her full speech HERE.
(Feature Image Credit: Shelly Wall/Shutterstock.com)