- British/Albanian singer and songwriter born in 1995 in London England.
- Lipa’s father was the lead singer of a Kosovan rock band. She began to sing at the age of five, though her teacher at her school choir told her that she could not sing. She began singing lessons at nine years old. Her family moved to their homeland in Kosovo when she was 13, where she resided for two years, thinking about a career in music. Returning to London, she began to upload videos of herself to her SoundCloud account, singing covers of songs by women like Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera. By 2012, her demos began to be noticed by the music industry, and the following year she signed a contract with a music management group.
- In 2015, she recorded two singles. New Love (co-written by Lipa) had a limited exposure, but it was popular with music insiders who promoted it, getting her onto BBC’s annual list of promising new music talent. Be The One initially did not chart, but in 2016 it became a sleeper hit throughout Europe. By 2017, it peaked at #9 on the UK Singles chart, and it reached #1 on the US Dance Club Songs Chart.
- Her single Hotter Than Hell, released in 2016, was written prior to her earlier singles. An early version of the song was heard by a record company, and she was signed to make her debut album. Other songs released in 2016 were Last Dance and Blow Your Mind (Mwah) – the latter was her first to chart on the Hot 100 (reaching #72) and it topped the Dance Club Songs chart. During this period, she was the opening act for tours by Troye Sivan, Bruno Mars and Coldplay.
- The eponymous Dua Lipa album was released in 2017. It included her previous singles and twelve more tracks. Four of the new singles were very successful. Scared To Be Lonely reached the top 20 on 29 charts worldwide, including #9 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. New Rules was her first #1 hit in the UK, and it reached #6 on the Hot 100 chart in the US, also topping three other Billboard charts. IDGAF became her fourth song to top the Dance Club Songs chart and it peaked at #3 in the UK. One Kiss (with Calvin Harris) reached #26 on the Hot 100 and also topped the Dance Club Songs chart – it was the biggest selling song in the UK in 2018.
- In 2018, Lipa collaborated with Silk City (DJs Mark Ronson and Diplo) to record Electricity, which was released as an EP with the same name by Silk City the following year. The single reached #1 on the Dance Club Songs chart, and it won the Grammy award for Best Dance Recording in 2019. That same year, she won the Grammy award for Best New Artist.
- Her next album, Future Nostalgia, was released in 2020. It topped album charts in 15 countries and it reached #3 in the U.S. Her biggest hits from the album were Don’t Start Now and Levitating, both of which reached #2 on the Hot 100 chart. Levitating made many “best of the year” lists, including #1 by Cosmopolitan, #2 by USA Today and #3 by Billboard. The album won a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2021.
- In 2021, Lipa collaborated with Elton John for John’s album The Lockdown Sessions, which he recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown. Their single Cold Heart (Pnau Remix) reached #7 on the Billboard 100 and it topped the UK Singles chart – the first UK #1 for Sir Elton in 16 years. The Pnau remix mashes four old Elton John songs (Rocket Man, Sacrifice, Kiss the Bride and Where’s the Shoorah?) into the song. 2022 saw two successful singles – collaborations with Megan Thee Stallion (Sweetest Pie) and Calvin Harris and Young Thug (Potion).
- Expect Lipa to continue to make hits well into the 20s. And…in 2022, she was named an Honorary Ambassador of Kosovo, and she was granted Albanian citizenship…so she has that going for her too. “Dua” means “love” in Albanian. Here’s the music video to my favorite Lipa tune, the super catchy One Kiss.