Dua Lipa is a British-Albanian singer-songwriter born in London on August 22, 1995, who emerged as a defining pop sensation of the 2020s. After posting YouTube covers as a teenager, she signed with Warner Bros. Records and achieved breakthrough success with hits like “New Rules” and “Don’t Start Now.” Her accomplishments include Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, chart-topping albums “Future Nostalgia” and “Radical Optimism,” and the diamond-certified single “Levitating,” establishing her remarkable trajectory from modest beginnings to global stardom.
Although born in London on August 22, 1995, to Albanian parents from Kosovo, Dua Lipa emerged from modest beginnings to become one of Britain’s most successful pop artists of the 2020s. Her father, Dukagjin Lipa, worked as a marketing manager and lead vocalist in the Kosovan rock band Oda, while her name “Dua,” meaning “love” in Albanian, represents her authentic given name rather than a stage moniker.
From Albanian roots and modest London beginnings, Dua Lipa rose to become Britain’s defining pop sensation of the 2020s.
During childhood, she attended Sylvia Young Theatre School part-time before moving with her family to Kosovo in 2008. At age 15, Lipa returned to London independently to pursue musical aspirations, beginning her career by posting song covers on YouTube when she was 14. She supplemented her musical pursuits with modeling work, appearing in a television advertisement for The X Factor in 2013.
Warner Bros. Records signed the emerging artist in 2014-2015, leading to her debut single “New Love” in 2015, followed by “Be the One” in 2016. Recognition arrived early when Lipa received the European Border Breakers Award Public Choice Award in January 2017. Beyond her recording career, she co-founded the Sunny Hill music festival in Kosovo in 2018 with her father.
Her self-titled debut album, released June 2, 2017, featured significant hits including “Be the One,” “Hotter than Hell,” “Blow Your Mind (Mwah),” “IDGAF,” and “New Rules.” The breakthrough single “New Rules” reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number six in the United States, while the album achieved number three on the UK Albums Chart.
International success accelerated through her collaboration with Calvin Harris on “One Kiss,” which became 2018’s best-selling UK song and earned the Brit Award for Song of the Year in 2019. The Grammy Awards recognized her achievements in 2019 with Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording for “Electricity” with Silk City.
Lipa’s second album, “Future Nostalgia,” released in 2020, debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and reached the top three in America. The lead single “Don’t Start Now” achieved the longest top-ten run for a British female artist on the UK Singles Chart, while “Levitating” topped Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 in 2021 and earned RIAA Diamond certification. She later released her third studio album “Radical Optimism” in 2024, which debuted atop the UK Albums Chart.
