Dua Lupa is taking over!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you must have heard of Dua Lipa. There’s no way you can deny that she is literally on the cusp of super stardom. Her musical style, which she describes as “dark pop” has gained her worldwide fame and more than 16 million followers on Instagram. Did we also mention that she’s a model, down to earth and a great speller? Want to know more about Dua who will be performing at Louvre Abu Dhabi’s concert village on November 11? Read on!
Dua Lipa was born on August 22, 1995 in Westminster, London, to Albanian parents. Her father, Dukagjin Lipa, is a marketing manager who had a side gig as a lead vocalist in a Kosovar rock band named Oda and her mother, Anesa Lipa is a tourism executive. Although she never liked her name growing up, her first name is Albanian and means Love. Dua attended the famous Sylvia Young Theatre School, part-time, before moving to Kosovo with her family in 2008. When she was 16 she moved back to London on her own with aspirations to be a singer.
Can you believe that when Dua was 11 she auditioned for her school choir and her teacher said that she couldn’t sing? Well we bet she’s eating her words now! When she was 14 Dua began posting covers of her favourite songs by artists such as Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado on Youtube. She didn’t mean for them to go viral but wanted a portfolio of her singing ability! Anyway, it definitely got her noticed!
At 15, she was working as a waitress in London and was also modeling but decided to leave both to focus on her singing career. In 2015, Dua began working on her debut album for Warner Bros. Records and in August of that year she released her first single New Love and then her second single Be the One in October. Be the One achieved success across Europe, reaching number 1 in Belgium, Poland and Slovakia, as well as charting within the top 10 in over 11 European territories!
Other than supporting some amazing acts on tour like Bruno Mars, Troye Sivan or Coldplay - Chris Martin wrote on her album! They worked on her track Homesick which features Chris on uncredited guest vocals. “At first, it was just meant to be me [singing], but then I begged him to sing too. I was like, ‘You have to be on this song!’ And he agreed. It’s the most beautiful song on the album. I think it really brings everyone in for a little cry,” she told NME.
Can you believe that Dua was the most streamed female artist on Spotify this year? That is huge when you consider that she topped artists like Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. She has 39 million monthly listeners! Drake is still the most streamed artist with 61 million monthly listeners but Dua will get there! Also in January of this year Dua became the first female artist to receive five Brit Award nominations. She ended up winning two - British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act!