Shakira has claimed having a husband was "dragging her down".
Shakira felt 'dragged down' by marriage
The 'Hips Don't Lie' hitmaker - who split from her footballer ex Gerard Pique in 2022 - has reflected on her music career during their 11 year relationship, which also saw her raising their sons Milan, 11, and Sasha, nine.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music, she said: "In a way it's kind of good not to have a husband because it was dragging me down.
"Now I feel like working, I feel like writing songs, I feel like making music, it's just a compulsive need that I didn't have before."
However, the mother-of-two admitted being a "single mother" means it can be "more challenging" trying to balance her career and personal life.
She added: "I am in charge of these two kids, these two babies who depend on me so much and I'm a single mother, I don't have a husband and home to help out with anything."
Last year, Shakira paid tribute to her boys and brought them with her to the MTV Video Music Awards in September, as she thanked them for helping her get back on her feet after the split from Pique.
In her acceptance speech for the Vanguard Award, she said: "Tonight I want to thank people who have played a key role in my visual history. I want to thank my parents.
"I want to thank my kids, Milan and Sasha, who are here. Thank you so much for cheering me up and making me feel that Mama can do it all."
The couple split in June 2022 and later reached a custody agreement which allowed her to leave her adopted home of Barcelona, Spain and move to the US with her sons.
Speaking to Elle magazine in the months after the breakup, Shakira admitted she's been through an incredibly "difficult" time.
She explained: "It’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation. And so it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult."
Shakira also insisted she's tried to protect her boys by hiding the fall out from the couple's split from them, but it's been a tough task.
She added: "I try to do it and to protect them, because that’s my number one mission in life. But then they hear things in school from their friends or they come across some disagreeable, unpleasant news online, and it just affects them, you know?"
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