This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.
In the last 12 months, Shakira has placed four songs at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin charts and has broken 14 Guinness World Records. She has also been celebrated with a retrospective exhibit at the Grammy Museum.
Oh, and she has sparked something of a female revolution along the way.
The Colombian superstar turned one of the most difficult years of her life into an unprecedented return to Spanish-language music by opening her heart to teach us that it’s OK to be vulnerable, and even “cash in” when suffering from heartbreak.
The latest winning streak by the artist — who was already the woman with the most top 10 hits on H๏τ Latin Songs (34), the most No. 1s on Latin Airplay (18) and the most entries on Latin Pop Airplay (50), among other milestones — began in April 2022 with “Te Felicito” with Rauw Alejandro.
The song reached No. 1 on the Latin Airplay and the Latin Pop Airplay charts, the latter of which Shakira had not led since “Clandestino” with Maluma four years earlier.
Then came the heartfelt bachata “Monotonía” with Ozuna, which peaked at No. 1 on Latin Airplay and spent six weeks atop the chart.
Shakira finished off the trilogy in January with the forceful “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” with Argentine DJ Bizarrap, in which she declared her new motto: “Women don’t cry anymore, they cash in.” The song earned her her first No. 1 on H๏τ Latin Songs since “Chantaje” with Maluma in 2016.
The track also “cashed in” by breaking 14 Guinness World Records, including most played Latin song on Spotify in 24 hours (14.4 million) and most viewed video on YouTube in 24 hours (63 million).
“What for me was a catharsis and a relief, I never thought would go straight to number one in the world at 45 years old, and in Spanish,” Shakira posted on social media, in Spanish.
“I want to embrace the millions of women who stand up to those who make us feel insignificant… They are my inspiration,” she added.
And just when it seemed like she had said it all, she made history again with “TQG” with Karol G. The collaboration — an explosive goodbye kiss for their respective exes — not only debuted at the top of H๏τ Latin Songs, but also earned both Colombian powerhouses their first No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts.