Times Square in New York City is about to be even crazier than usual because Shakira has just announced she is playing a surprise concert there tonight. The Colombian icon just released her album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. Here’s what you need to know.
How do I get in?
The concert will kick off tonight, March 26th at 7:15 ET. It is completely free, and there are no tickets required for the one-night-only event. If you want to get a good spot, you should probably start making your way there a little early.
Where is it?
It will take place at the TSX Entertainment Stage, nestled behind Times Square’s expansive 18,000-square-foot billboard. It’s on the southeast corner of Broadway and 47th Street.
How Shakira turned pain into art
Shakira’s new album comes after her public separation from Gerard Pique, which had the world in a chokehold looking for any details about Clara Chia and jam, allegations, and more.
It’s her first new album in seven years, and a testimony of how artists turn pain into art. “I’ve been through so much in these past few years that I had to literally pick up the pieces of myself and put them back together,” Shakira told The Associated Press in a recent interview, “And during that process, I think that music was the glue.”
She also revealed the inspiration for the title, telling the outlet, “I was in a fight or flight sort of mode for a while and I think it is that She Wolf within us women today that is taking society to where it’s going, you know, at the moment. Women are natural multitaskers. We can do everything. We can really survive wars and rebuild cities after they’re destroyed. So, my life was in pieces after, you know, the dissolution of my family, and so many other things that I had to go through.”
“That’s why this album is called “Women No Longer Cry.” Because I feel that women, you know, for ages have been sent to cry with a script in their hands. And just because we women conceal our emotions in front of our kids and just show good manners and accept it all, and now it’s different. I think that as women now we decide when to cry, when not to cry and how to do it, if we decide to cry. So, it’s like no one has to tell us how to heal,” the singer continued.