English pop singer
Dua Lipa showcases a throwback vibe and a knack for catchy pop with soulful grit, much like
Sia,
Jessie J, or
P!nk, and a slyly rebellious air like
Charli XCX or
Marina & the Diamonds. After a steady rise in the U.K., she broke onto the U.S. charts with a series of collaborations with
Sean Paul,
Martin Garrix, and
Calvin Harris, as well as multi-platinum singles "New Rules" and "IDGAF" from her 2017 debut,
Dua Lipa. In 2019, she won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording for her collaboration with Silk City, "Electricity."
Born and raised in London to Kosovar-Albanian parents,
Lipa attended the Sylvia Young Theater School (
Rita Ora,
Amy Winehouse) until the age of 13, when she relocated to Kosovo with her family. However, the move wouldn't last very long, and she was back in London by age 15, living on her own and pursuing a singing career. Her first demos were released in 2012, attracting the attention of
Lana Del Rey's management team, who signed her and linked her up with
Emile Haynie (
Lana Del Rey,
Bruno Mars).
Lipa's shimmery debut single, "New Love," was followed by the soulful "Be the One." Long-listed for the prestigious BBC's Sound of 2016, she released "Hotter Than Hell" and "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)" in 2016, coinciding with a tour throughout the spring and summer. While "Hotter Than Hell" went on to break into the Top 20 in the U.K., in 2017
Lipa earned the distinction of having three simultaneously charting singles in the U.K. Top 15 with "Be the One," "Scared to Be Lonely" with
Martin Garrix, and "No Lie" with
Sean Paul.
Dua Lipa, her debut full-length, arrived that summer. In addition to her previously released singles, the album included "Lost in Your Light" (a duet with
Miguel) and "Homesick" (with
Coldplay's
Chris Martin). Since a handful of singles had already been in international rotation since 2015, the album's revived international promotional effort focused on the single "New Rules," which became another multi-platinum hit, not only rising into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 but also landing on European and Australian Top Ten lists. Eighth album single "IDGAF" followed in 2018, extending her chart presence. That summer, she teamed with
Calvin Harris for the '90s club-inspired "One Kiss," which helped land
Lipa another number one. Closing out the whirlwind success of this breakthrough era, she collected all these collaborative singles and bundled them with the deluxe version of her debut album as
Dua Lipa: Complete Edition, which was promoted with the single "Kiss and Make Up" with K-pop girl group
BlackPink.
In early 2019,
Lipa won Best New Artist at the 61st Grammy Awards, also taking the prize for Best Dance Recording for "Electricity," her collaborative hit single with
Diplo and
Mark Ronson's Silk City project. By January 2020, she had released two songs, "Don't Start Now" and "Physical," as the leadoff tracks to her sophomore full-length album,
Future Nostalgia. The funky set arrived a week earlier than expected that March, a gift to fans quarantined at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding inspiration from
OutKast,
Prince,
Gwen Stefani, and
INXS, the effort focused on dancefloor-friendly fare, drawing upon '70s disco, '80s pop, and '90s club music. ~ Neil Z. Yeung