Dua Lipa (01-Dec-2025)

Dua Lipa, whose full name is Dua Lipa, was born on August 22, 1995, in the Westminster district of London, England. She is the eldest child of Anesa Rexha and Dukagjin Lipa, Albanian-Kosovar refugees from Pristina who settled in London in 1992 due to instability in the Balkans. Her father, Dukagjin, is a marketing manager and was formerly the vocalist for the Kosovan rock band Oda, while her mother, Anesa, works in tourism. Dua has a younger sister, Rina Lipa, and a younger brother, Gjin Lipa. The name "Dua" was her grandmother's suggestion and means "love" in Albanian. She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School part-time before her family moved back to Kosovo in 2008 when she was 11. There she attended the Mileniumi i Tretë school in Pristina. At 15, she returned to London with aspirations of becoming a singer, living with friends and attending Parliament Hill School, while also resuming her studies at the Sylvia Young Theatre School on Saturdays. She began her music career at age 14, posting covers of her favorite songs by artists like P!nk and Nelly Furtado on YouTube. Simultaneously, she worked as a model for ASOS Marketplace's online catalog. In 2013, she signed a contract with Tap Management while working as a cocktail waitress. Her big break came in 2014 when she signed a record deal with Warner Records. Her debut single, "New Love," was released in August 2015, followed by "Be the One" in October 2015, which achieved significant success in Europe and Australia. Her self-titled debut album, "Dua Lipa," released in June 2017, cemented her status as a rising star, peaking at number 3 in the UK and spawning multiple hit singles, including "New Rules," which became her first UK number 1 and a US top 10 hit. Her second album, "Future Nostalgia" (March 2020), was a massive critical and commercial success, embracing a disco-pop and dance-pop sound. It produced international hits like "Don't Start Now," "Physical," "Break My Heart," and "Levitating." The album won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album and the BRIT Award for British Album of the Year. Her third album, "Radical Optimism," was released on May 3, 2024, featuring singles like "Houdini," "Training Season," and "Illusion," showcasing an evolution towards a sound with neo-psychedelia influences. Dua Lipa has won three Grammy Awards, seven BRIT Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and an American Music Award, among other accolades.