Shakira pictured in 2011 with her father, William Mebarack Chadid, who suffered a stroke before her Rio de Janeiro concert. Photo / Getty Images
Shakira pictured in 2011 with her father, William Mebarack Chadid, who suffered a stroke before her Rio de Janeiro concert. Photo / Getty Images
Shakira’s father suffered a stroke moments before the singer performed a megashow in Rio de Janeiro.
The Hips Don’t Lie hitmaker’s 94-year-old father William Mebarack Chadid was rushed to hospital after suffering the medical emergency just as Shakira, 49, was about to take to the stage in front of acrowd of two million people in Copacabana on Saturday.
The show was supposed to begin at 9.45pm but ended up being pushed back to 11.05pm after the Colombian superstar discovered what had happened to her father – who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but left after 24 hours.
When questioned by CNN Brazil, organisers of Todo Mundo No Rio stated the delay to the show was due to “a personal matter”.
Despite Shakira’s family emergency, her performance drew huge crowds to the Brazilian city and Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere was thrilled with the She Wolf artist’s impact.
He wrote on X: “Once again, history was made on the sands of Copacabana.”
He described Shakira as “the queen of Latin America on the biggest stage on earth”, adding: “Thank you very much. Bring it on, 2027!”
Despite the emergency, Shakira's performance drew huge crowds, with Rio's mayor praising her impact. Photo / Getty Images
Shakira previously admitted that her decision to perform at the mega-event in Copacabana was rooted in the moment her life “collapsed all at once” following her split from her footballer ex-partner Gerard Pique after 12 years together in 2022.
The Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) singer – who has sons Milan, 13, and Sasha, 11 with the former Barcelona player – wrote for Globo: “From that morning until today, I’ve had to entirely reinvent myself.
“As a mother, as a provider, as an artist, as a woman.
“And from that learning process, sometimes messy, sometimes illuminated by a kind of clarity only pain can bring, this tour was born: Las mujeres ya no lloran (Women No Longer Cry.)
“It’s not a cry for revenge, nor a flag of victimhood. It’s exactly the opposite.
“It’s the quiet realisation that crying is no longer enough, that there are children to raise, bills to pay, lives to push forward.
“And that it can be done, and it can be done with dignity.”
Shakira explained how she started seeing her own story reflected back at her in the faces of fans who waited after shows to share their own tales of heartbreak and resilience.
She wrote: “As I travelled the world with this tour, I started to see my own face reflected in many others.
“Women who waited for me after shows to tell me, in two minutes and with shining eyes, their own version of the same story.
