Dua Lipa

Early life

Lipa was born in London,^[3] the eldest child of Kosovo Albanian parents Anesa (née Rexha) and Dukagjin Lipa from Pristina, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo).^[4][5] Her maternal grandmother is of Bosniak descent.^[6][7][8]


Her ancestry can also be traced back to the city of Peja, Kosovo. Both of her grandfathers were historians.^[9] She has a sister named Rina and a brother named Gjin.^[10][11][12] Lipa was musically influenced by her father,^[13][14][15] who was the lead singer and guitarist of the Kosovan rock band Oda.^[16][17][12] Her father continued to play music at home, including his own compositions and songs of artists such as David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Sting, The Police, and Stereophonics.^[14][15][18] Dua Lipa began singing at the age of five.^[19]


Lipa grew up in West Hampstead, London.^[17] She attended Fitzjohn's Primary School^[20][21] and her music lessons there included the cello.^[5] When she auditioned to enter the school choir, the teacher told her that "she could not sing".^[5][14][22] At the age of nine, she began weekend singing lessons at the Sylvia Young Theatre School.^[5][6][23] Lipa moved with her family to Pristina after Kosovo declared independence in 2008.^[6][19] There she attended Mileniumi i Tretë School,^[24] learned more about the Albanian language, and considered a music career.^[25][26]


At age 15, Lipa moved alone back to London and shared a flat with a family friend.^{[27][28][29][30]} At Parliament Hill School she passed her A-Levels, then re-entered Sylvia Young Theatre School part-time.^[29][31] She uploaded her own songs to SoundCloud and YouTube. She began posting videos of herself covering songs such as "If I Ain't Got You" (2004) by Alicia Keys and "Beautiful" (2002) by Christina Aguilera on YouTube.^[19] Lipa modeled with Topshop^[28] and signed with a modeling agency, helping her land a role as a "singer" in an ITV advertisement for The X Factor in 2013, covering the song "Lost in Music" (1979).^[32][33] She acquired a producer and a manager.^[4][29]

Artistry and influences

The media have described Lipa as having a mezzo-soprano^{[253][254][255]} or contralto^[256][257] vocal range. Her music is primarily pop, and has also been described as disco, house and R&B.^{[3][258][259]} Stylistically, her music has been described as dance-pop,^[260] synth-pop, R&B,^[259] dream pop,^[14] alternative pop,^[261] and nu-disco subgenres.^[262] She describes her musical style as being "dark pop".^[40][263] She is also noted for singing in a "distinct, husky, low register",^[26] and her "sultry" tone.^[146] Regarding her songwriting process, Lipa states she usually comes to the studio with a concept and starts developing the song with her co-writers.^[31][264] She cites Kylie Minogue, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Jamiroquai, Kendrick Lamar, and Chance the Rapper among her musical influences.^{[265][148][266]} "My idea of pop has been P!nk and Christina Aguilera and Destiny's Child and Nelly Furtado", said Lipa in a GQ interview in 2018.^[267] Her second studio album Future Nostalgia (2020) was inspired by artists that she listened to during her teens, including Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Moloko, Blondie and Outkast.^[86]


Lipa's stage presence was met with criticism in the early stages of her career. A YouTube comment on her performance of "New Rules" at the 2018 BRIT Awards saying "I love her lack of energy, go girl give us nothing" became an internet meme, subjecting Lipa to ridicule. Lipa credited this criticism as motivation to improve her stage presence.^{[268][269][270]}

Impact

A study conducted by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of people born with the name "Dua" in England and Wales was 63 in 2017, the year Lipa earned her first UK number one song with "New Rules"; this increased to 126 in 2019.^[271][272] In May 2018, she was included on British Vogue's inaugural list of the 25 most influential British women of 2018 with Lipa being the youngest on the list at the age of 22. The magazine's review said her 2017 song "New Rules" is an "anthem of female empowerment [that] laid out a blueprint for modern sex lives", and described her as being a "culture definer".^[273][274]


Lyndsey Havens from Billboard credited Lipa as being the protagonist in disco's revival in 2020 through her song "Don't Start Now" (2019).^[275] People magazine called her "the Future of Pop" due to the success of her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia.^[276] She inspired the French photographer, Hugo Comte, in his first photo-book.^[277] She was included in Time's 100 Next list on future 100 world's most influential people by Australian singer Kylie Minogue who in her review called Lipa a "shining star".^[224][225] Mark Sutherland and Jem Aswad from Variety rated Lipa as being one of the most impactful women in the global entertainment industry.^[278]


Several wax figures of Dua Lipa are found at Madame Tussauds Wax Museums in major cities around the world, including at Madame Tussauds London,^[279] Madame Tussauds Amsterdam,^[280] Madame Tussauds New York,^[281] Madame Tussauds Sydney,^[282] Madame Tussauds Singapore,^[283] Madame Tussauds Orlando,^[284] and Madame Tussauds Istanbul.^[285]

Headlining


Promotional


Opening act