Dua Lipa

English-Albanian pop superstar, model, and social advocate Dua Lipa projects an easygoing presence alongside an ability to craft infectious pop laced with soulful edge, serving up her chart-topping material through a knowing glance and grin. Following consistent progress within the U.K. market, she reached global audiences via varied genre-crossing partnerships plus the multi-platinum tracks “New Rules” and “IDGAF,” both drawn from her self-titled 2017 debut LP. Building on that breakthrough momentum, she secured 2019 Grammy Awards in the Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording categories for the Silk City collaboration “Electricity.” Fresh peaks arrived in 2020 when the chart-topping, Grammy-winning second album Future Nostalgia, steeped in club aesthetics, elevated her to pop’s upper echelon and sparked further prominent team-ups, an extensive tour, and her own lifestyle newsletter and podcast. She returned in 2024 with Radical Optimism, shaped by Kevin Parker’s production and also reaching the top spot on the U.K. charts, before issuing her debut live album captured at London’s Royal Albert Hall later that same year.

Raised in London by Kosovar-Albanian parents, Lipa studied at the Sylvia Young Theater School, which also counts Rita Ora and Amy Winehouse among its alumni, until she turned 13 and moved with her family to Kosovo. The relocation proved brief; by age 15 she had returned to London, living independently while chasing a singing career. Early demo recordings from 2012 drew interest from Lana Del Rey’s management, leading to a signing and an introduction to Emile Haynie, known for work with Lana Del Rey and Bruno Mars. Her shimmering first single “New Love” preceded the soulful follow-up “Be the One.” After earning a long-list spot on the BBC’s Sound of 2016 poll, she issued “Hotter Than Hell” and “Blow Your Mind (Mwah)” in 2016 amid spring and summer touring. “Hotter Than Hell” climbed into the U.K. Top 20, and in 2017 Lipa achieved the rare feat of three simultaneous U.K. Top 15 entries with “Be the One,” the Martin Garrix duet “Scared to Be Lonely,” and the Sean Paul collaboration “No Lie.”

Her debut full-length Dua Lipa landed that summer. Alongside earlier singles, the project featured the Miguel duet “Lost in Your Light” and the Chris Martin collaboration “Homesick.” With several tracks already circulating internationally since 2015, renewed global promotion centered on “New Rules,” another multi-platinum success that reached the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten and similar heights across Europe and Australia. The eighth single “IDGAF” arrived in 2018 to prolong her chart run. That summer she joined Calvin Harris on the ’90s club-flavored “One Kiss,” securing another number one. Rounding out this breakthrough period, she gathered the collaborative singles into the deluxe edition Dua Lipa: Complete Edition, promoted via the BlackPink duet “Kiss and Make Up.”

At the 61st Grammy Awards in early 2019, Lipa claimed Best New Artist while also winning Best Dance Recording for “Electricity,” her hit with Diplo and Mark Ronson’s Silk City project. By January 2020 she had unveiled “Don’t Start Now” and “Physical” as the opening singles for her sophomore album Future Nostalgia. The funky collection dropped a week ahead of schedule in March, offered as a gesture to fans sheltering at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from OutKast, Prince, Gwen Stefani, and INXS, the set emphasized dancefloor material rooted in ’70s disco, ’80s pop, and ’90s club sounds. The widely praised LP earned a short-list nomination for the 2020 Mercury Prize and topped charts in the U.K., Australia, and much of Europe. Later that summer Lipa enlisted electronic artist the Blessed Madonna for the remix project Club Future Nostalgia, styled as a DJ mixtape and featuring Madonna, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani, Yaeji, and Blackpink. The Future Nostalgia campaign extended into 2021 with the deluxe Moonlight Edition, fronted by “We’re Good” and including joint tracks with Angèle (“Fever”), Miley Cyrus (“Prisoner”), JID (“Not My Problem”), a DaBaby remix of “Levitating,” and the J Balvin, Bad Bunny, and Tainy collaboration “Un Día.” This successful stretch concluded with Lipa’s third Grammy, awarded for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Beyond launching a weekly lifestyle newsletter and podcast, she stayed active through the Megan Thee Stallion collaboration “Sweetest Pie” and a feature on Calvin Harris’ Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2 titled “Potion.” In 2023 the Mark Ronson-produced “Dance the Night” emerged as the lead single from the Barbie soundtrack. That November she released the platinum-certified “Houdini” on the same day “Dance the Night” received a Grammy nomination. With “Illusion” securing her third Top Ten placement, she issued her third studio album Radical Optimism in May 2024. Inspired by psychedelia, Brit-pop, rave, and trip-hop, the set was helmed by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. Like its predecessor, Radical Optimism reached number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. During promotional appearances she performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall; the resulting Live from the Royal Albert Hall, featuring a duet with Elton John, aired on television in December and appeared as a live album.