Up until a year ago, you’d be forgiven for not having heard of Dua Lipa. But while the British singer’s name has been thrown around a lot recently, it’s easy to have missed where she came from – or why exactly she’s currently the most talked about musician on the planet with over 15.5 million loyal Instagram followers.
In 2017, the now 22-year-old skyrocketed to the top of the charts with the release of her single ‘New Rules’, before cementing herself in the world of pop with debut album Dua Lipa, which has racked up a whopping 2.3 billion streams on Spotify in just over a year.
Below, everything you need to know about the pop princess who isn’t going away any time soon.
1. She Got Her Start On YouTube
Dua Lipa’s career began at the age of 14 when she started posting covers of her favourite pop songs on YouTube. While she wasn’t discovered on the social media platform, Lipa used it to share her voice with the world.
“When I was 15 I was posting covers online but it was never one of those things that went viral, it was more of a way for me to use it as a portfolio,” she said.
2. She’s Albanian
Her parents are ethnic Albanians from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. Like many other Albanians, Dua’s parents migrated to the West, because of violence and oppression in the 1990s. But the brunette bombshell herself was born in London, England.
3. Dua Lipa Is Actually Her Real Name
This may come as a surprise to many but the ‘One Kiss’ singer’s real name genuinely is Dua Lipa. Her name originates from Albania where both of her parents were born.
4. She Has Worked As A Model
It’s no surprise that the 22-year-old had a previous stint as a model, given she’s drop-dead gorgeous. However, Dua rejected the modelling world to pursue music and she has no regrets about it whatsoever.
“It just wasn’t the route that I wanted to go. It is amazing and lots of fun having your picture taken but it was never something I saw as a career because all I ever wanted to do was music.” the English pop singer told Confidential on Nova radio show in 2016.
5. She Was Signed When She Was 18
Dua was signed by Warner Music just two years after she returned to London to pursue her singing career.
“I remember calling my parents in Kosovo and telling them to catch a flight to London so they could come to the signing,” she said.
6. She’s Off The Market
Dua Lipa is currently in a relationship with British model and chef Isaac Carew. The pair began dating in 2015, however, broke up a few months later. Earlier this year the former lovebirds were spotted together again, sparking rumours of rekindling their romance.
7. Her First Name Means ‘Love’ In Albanian
The pop princess allegedly hated it when she was younger.
8. She Attended The Same School As Rita Ora
Dua attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London, part-time before moving to Kosovo with her family in 2008.
9. She’s The Most Streamed Female Artist In The World
The songstress beat the likes of Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Beyonce when she reached a major Spotify milestone and crowned the most streamed woman of 2017 in the UK. According to Spotify’s year-end figures, her breakup anthem ‘New Rules’ was streamed over 1 billion times, cementing her as one of the most successful artists in the world.
10. She Has Assaulted A Police Officer
When she was 15, the five-time Brit Award nominee and her friends were almost arrested after they threw excess bubble-bath bubbles off a balcony, not realising they’d been hitting a police officer who was walking underneath.
“It came to the point where he was like: ‘We’re gonna take you down to Scotland Yard’”, she says. “I was in tears by that point. He was like: ‘How old are you? 15? We’ll just send you a warning in the post.’” Luckily for Dua, she never received the warning and the police never contacted her mother.
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