49 Fun Facts About Dua Lipa

What does the name Dua mean in Albanian?

Love is the sense she gives her name, from a verb that covers both wanting and loving. Her grandmother chose it, and as a London schoolgirl she longed to be a Hannah or a Sarah instead.

Dua Lipa's father Dukagjin fronted Oda, a Kosovan band playing which genre?

Rock was Oda's sound, though fame in Kosovo never made it a full-time living for him. He kept playing at home, and Lipa credits a house that always had music on for setting her on her way.

Dua Lipa took weekend singing lessons at which London stage school?

Sylvia Young Theatre School took her on at weekends from the age of nine. A teacher there told her she could sing, after her school choir teacher had said she could not.

Which instrument did Lipa learn at primary school?

Cello was her pick at primary school, and she gave it up for a practical reason: she was so small that the case on her back kept whacking her head and legs. She called it a health hazard.

Dua Lipa's parents moved the family from London back to which city?

Pristina is where her parents resettled, but Lipa lasted only a few years there. At 15 she talked them into letting her move back to London alone to chase a music career.

Lipa sang a Sister Sledge cover in a 2013 ITV advert for which show?

The X Factor used her cover of Lost in Music to sell its 2013 series, yet she was never a contestant on the show.

What job was Dua Lipa working when she signed her first management deal in 2013?

Waitress in a cocktail bar was the job. Her new managers put her on a monthly salary so she could quit and spend the time recording.

Dua Lipa's "Physical" borrows its title and a chorus line from a 1981 hit by which singer?

Olivia Newton-John sang Let's get physical first, in 1981. Lipa's chorus repeats the line on purpose, a wink that fits an album she named Future Nostalgia.

What was Lipa's first single, released in August 2015?

New Love drew little attention when it came out in August 2015. Tastemakers noticed anyway, and it helped put her on the BBC Sound of 2016 longlist before she had a hit.

Which 2015 Dua Lipa single reached number one in Belgium?

Be the One was written by others, and she hesitated to record a song she had no hand in. It spread slowly across Europe after German radio picked it up, then reached No 9 at home.

Lipa featured on which Sean Paul single in 2016?

No Lie was written with Emily Warren, whose demo vocal Sean Paul thought nobody could match. Someone in his management suggested Lipa, and her own demo won him over.

Which Dutch DJ collaborated with Lipa on "Scared to Be Lonely"?

Martin Garrix built the track and Lipa supplied the vocal. Weeks after its release the pair stripped it back and performed it with a full orchestra.

Which single gave Lipa her first UK number one in 2017?

New Rules climbed slowly, carried by a much-shared video of women keeping each other away from the phone. At the top it ended almost two years without a solo woman at number one, since Adele's Hello.

Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart" gave a writing credit to members of which Australian band, for echoing "Need You Tonight"?

INXS's Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence got the credit after Lipa played the track back and heard their 1987 riff in it. She handed over a share willingly, joking that she was not trying to get sued.

Lipa recorded a 2017 charity cover of "Bridge over Troubled Water" for the victims of what?

The Grenfell Tower fire struck west London on 14 June 2017, and the single was on sale a week later. Dozens of artists recorded it over three days in a studio half a mile from the tower.

Dua Lipa's first Brit Awards were British Female Solo Artist and which other prize?

British Breakthrough Act completed her double. She went in with five nominations, the most any woman had ever had in one year, yet lost Album, Single and Video to Stormzy, Rag'n'Bone Man and Harry Styles.

Which DJ partnered Dua Lipa on "One Kiss", her second UK number one, in 2018?

Calvin Harris and Lipa knocked Drake off the top even though Drake had more streams that week. They had sold more downloads, which the chart formula weighted more heavily.

Lipa performed at the opening ceremony of the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final in which city?

Kyiv staged the 2018 final, and her pre-match set left a mark on the Liverpool end. Their fans turned One Kiss into a victory anthem, and she now calls herself an honorary Liverpool supporter.

"Electricity" paired Lipa with Silk City, the duo of Diplo and whom?

Mark Ronson and Diplo are Silk City. In the video Lipa dances the lights back on at a loft party during New York's 2003 blackout, while the two producers sit stuck in a lift.

Which Grammy did Lipa win in 2019 along with the dance-recording award for "Electricity"?

Best New Artist gave her a microphone, and she used it. Praising her fellow female nominees, she said women had really stepped up this year, a dig at the Grammys chief who had told them to step up.

Dua Lipa's "Kiss and Make Up" was a collaboration with which K-pop group?

Blackpink came aboard after Jennie and Lisa turned up at Lipa's Seoul concert. She offered them the song straight afterwards, and they went into the studio and translated lyrics into Korean.

Dua Lipa's 2019 single "Swan Song" was written for which film?

Alita: Battle Angel, produced by James Cameron, also shaped the video, in which director Floria Sigismondi sends Lipa through the film's Iron City.

Dua Lipa said her second album would feel like what?

A dancercise class was how she described it to the BBC in July 2019, and she later filmed a 1980s-style aerobics workout video for "Physical".

What was the lead single of Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia?

Don't Start Now peaked at number two in the UK, kept off the top for three straight weeks by Tones and I's "Dance Monkey".

Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia debuted at number two in the UK behind which band's album Calm?

5 Seconds of Summer won the week by just 550 chart sales, and Future Nostalgia climbed to number one seven days later.

Which two artists featured on the August 2020 club remix of Dua Lipa's "Levitating"?

Madonna and Missy Elliott, whom Lipa called her idols, joined the remix that launched her Club Future Nostalgia album.

Which rapper featured on the October 2020 remix of Dua Lipa's "Levitating"?

DaBaby's verse was dropped by many radio stations after his remarks at a July 2021 festival, which Lipa said left her "surprised and horrified".

Which Belgian singer joined Dua Lipa on the 2020 single "Fever"?

Angèle added French verses to a song Lipa had held back from Future Nostalgia because its tropical beat did not fit the album.

Dua Lipa featured on "Prisoner" from which Miley Cyrus album?

Plastic Hearts arrived a year after Cyrus headlined Sunny Hill, the Kosovo festival Lipa founded with her father.

What was the title of Dua Lipa's November 2020 livestream concert?

Studio 2054 took its name from New York's Studio 54, a club Lipa said had always fascinated her, and was taped on a London warehouse soundstage.

Dua Lipa's third UK number one was a 2021 duet with whom?

Elton John had gone 16 years without a UK number one until "Cold Heart", which also ended Ed Sheeran's 15-week run at the top.

What is the name of the lifestyle newsletter Dua Lipa launched in 2022?

Service95 joins her wish to be "of service" to readers with 1995, the year she was born, and grew out of the lists she obsessively kept for friends.

What swims toward Dua Lipa on the cover of her album Radical Optimism?

A shark fin cuts the water while she floats calmly beside it, a picture of what the title meant to her: "going through chaos gracefully".

Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion released which 2022 collaboration?

Sweetest Pie came with a Dave Meyers video built on Megan's own concept, a dark fairy tale in which the pair burn a castle and the men chasing them.

Which character did Dua Lipa play in her 2023 acting debut?

Mermaid Barbie was her part on screen. Off screen, an Instagram message from the soundtrack's producer led to "Dance the Night", the song they wrote together and her fourth UK number one.

Which rights did Dua Lipa buy back from TaP Music in November 2023?

Publishing rights to her whole catalogue came back in the deal, which she said she had always wanted: "It's my life's work, so it's good to be the person to say what happens with it."

Which musician co-produced Dua Lipa's 2023 single "Houdini" with Danny L Harle?

Kevin Parker, who records as Tame Impala, played her the opening riff at his Los Angeles home studio, and she says the heart of the song came together within two hours.

Which 2024 spy comedy was announced back in 2021 as Dua Lipa's acting debut?

Argylle was billed as her first film role when its cast was announced, but it did not reach cinemas until February 2024, months after Barbie had taken that honour.

Dua Lipa closed which Glastonbury stage as the Friday headliner in 2024?

The Pyramid Stage slot came seven years after her 2017 set in the festival's John Peel tent, where the crowd spilled out of the sides in the rain.

Dua Lipa recorded her first live album in October 2024 at which London venue?

The Royal Albert Hall show set her hits to the Heritage Orchestra and a choir, an idea she said she had carried for the longest time, and was filmed as the TV special An Evening with Dua Lipa.

Which country granted Dua Lipa citizenship in November 2022?

Albania's president granted it on the eve of her tour finale in Tirana, and she took the oath and gave her fingerprints for a passport at the city hall.

The fan nickname "Dula Peep" for Dua Lipa began as a mispronunciation by which talk-show host?

Wendy Williams fumbled the name in May 2018 while recapping Billboard Music Awards outfits on her show, and Lipa joined in, asking online whether it was a new Kanye song.

Whom did Dua Lipa marry in 2026?

Callum Turner married her at Old Marylebone Town Hall in London on 31 May, where she skipped a wedding gown for a Schiaparelli couture skirt suit, a week before the party in Sicily.

Dua Lipa's 2026 wedding celebrations took over the centre of which Sicilian city?

Palermo closed streets in its historic centre for two opening parties, which left residents split between pride and complaints about the disruption. The reception then moved to a Baroque villa in nearby Bagheria.

Which company did Dua Lipa sue for $15 million in 2026 for printing her photo on its TV boxes?

Samsung printed a photo of her face on the cardboard boxes of its televisions, and her complaint says the company brushed off her demands to stop.

Dua Lipa made her runway debut at which fashion house's Spring/Summer 2022 show?

Versace had her both open and close the Milan show, and her own song "Physical" played each time she walked.

Which YSL fragrance did Dua Lipa become the face of in 2019?

Libre was sold on freedom, with YSL praising her "fierce brand of freedom", and the adverts were set to her own cover of the song "I'm Free".

The viral comment "go girl give us nothing" mocked Dua Lipa's performance at which event?

The 2018 Brit Awards clip drew a YouTube comment praising her "lack of energy", and Lipa later said the mockery hurt but made her insist on rehearsal time before every performance.

Which sportswear brand's "She Moves Us" campaign did Dua Lipa front?

Puma signed her in November 2020 to front a campaign about women who inspire others, and she named her mother, who rebuilt a life in Britain after leaving Kosovo.