Dua Lipa is an English singer and songwriter who has risen to prominence in recent years.
She released her first single in August 2015 and has won more than 30 awards since breaking onto the scene.
But how much do we know about Dua Lipa’s journey and what can we learn from her success?
This in-depth Dua Lipa biography is going to focus on all of the important things you need to know about her and her journey.
We’re going to focus on what we can learn from her impressive success and take a look at her early life story.
So, with the introductions out of the way, let’s start taking a closer look at Dua Lipa’s journey to stardom and beyond.
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Dua Lipa Information
• Full name: Dua Lipa
• Date of Birth: 22 August 1995
• Age: 28 years old
• Height: 1.73m (5ft 6.7in)
• Net Worth: £2.2m (approx)
• Instagram: @dualipa
Who is Dua Lipa?
Dua Lipa is an English singer and songwriter who has risen to prominence in recent years.
She was born in Westminster, London, on 22 August 1996, to Albanian parents.
Her father is Dukagjin Lipa. He is a marketing manager who was also lead vocalist in a Kosovar rock band called Oda. Her mother, Anesa Lipa, works in tourism, according to her Wikipedia entry.
Dua Lipa (Photo: Warner Bros. Records / Luc Coiffait)
Interestingly, Dua was not always a fan of her first name. In an interview posted on YouTube in 2017, she said: “Now I’m proud of it [my name]. Now I am. But when I was growing up all I wanted was to be called Hannah, Sarah, Ella… anything normal. Because with Dua you had to explain: I’m from Kosovo.”
Dua attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School in west London on a part-time basis, before she moved to Kosovo with her parents in 2006 after her father was offered a job there. There, she attended the private school Mileniumi i Tretë in Pristina.
“Kosovo is changing and evolving so much,” she explains in an interview quoted on the Warner Bros. Records website. “It’s still very poor, there’s lot of places that are really run-down, but every time I go back there’s something new and better happening.
“There’s so much talent there, and people are starting to find out about it.”
Aged just 14 years old, Dua began posting covers of her favorite songs from artists such as Pink and Nelly Furtado on YouTube.
Growing up, she absorbed the music of his favorite artists, which included Radiohead, Oasis, Stereophonics and Sting. Meanwhile, she was still a regular pop-obsessed kid, singing along to Destiny’s Child and S Club 7, and especially Nelly and Pink.
When she was 15, she managed to convince her parents to let her move back to London, with aspirations of being a music star. She lived with a friend and studied at Parliament Hill School, returning to the Sylvia Young Theatre School on Saturdays.
Dua Lipa (Photo: Warner Bros. Records / Markus Pritzi)
She was noticed on the street by a modeling agency after having returned to London. However, she admits that it wasn’t really for her.
“Some of my friends were doing it,” she says. “But I was never put up for any good jobs, just random salons and whatever. And they said ‘If you want to do this properly, you need to lose a lot of weight.’ I tried to do it at first, but it made me very unhappy and caused me a lot of issues, a lot of body confidence problems.
“Modeling sounds so glamorous, but it really wasn’t a successful thing for me.”
She worked as a model for the online catalogue ASOS Marketplace when she was 16. She also worked as a hostess at a Mexican restaurant La Bodega Negra in Soho, and at a nightclub in Mayfair.
She made it through high school but failed her first year of A Levels, and she admitted that she was too embarrassed to tell her friends at the time. “I felt so bad, I just wanted to cover it up,” she admitted.
However, she made amends quickly. She took part in an intensive one-year study program, got straight As, and was accepted into four universities.
Interestingly, Dua Lipa insists that she never had a ‘Plan B’ other than making it as a musician.
“I always told myself never to have a plan B – I feel like that’s also one of the reasons I’m doing what I’m doing now, because I have never thought about doing anything else.”
Dua Lipa (Photo: Warner Bros. Records / Markus Pritzi)
In 2013, Dua starred in a television advertisement for The X Factor. Her appearance drew the attention of a management team working with Lana Del Rey, who offered her a deal to be able to quit working at the restaurant and focus on her music.
Dua has since said that her hit single ‘Hotter Than Hell’, written before she got signed, was the first time she felt in command of her songwriting.
In 2015, Lipa began working on her debut album for Warner Music Group. In August 2015, she released her first single ‘New Love’. She released her second single ‘Be the One’, in October 2015.
On 18 February 2016, she released her third single ‘Last Dance’, quickly followed by ‘Hotter than Hell’ on 6 May. ‘Hotter than Hell’ became a hit worldwide, especially in the UK, where it reached number 15.
Perhaps the most emotional experience in Dua Lipa’s young career was her triumphant return to Kosovo for a concert last summer.
The appearance in Kosovo drew an astonishing 18,000 fans, and the singer needed a police escort to get from her family’s residence to the venue. “It was the craziest moment of my life,” she says. “Just so insane and so much fun.”
She used the proceeds from the homecoming show to create the Sunny Hill Foundation, named for the neighborhood where her parents reside.
Dua Lipa released her first studio album, called ‘Dua Lipa’ on 2 June 2017.
She has more than 27 million followers on Instagram more than three million followers on Twitter.
Dua Lipa (Photo: Warner Bros. Records / Markus Pritzi)
Is Dua Lipa Her Real Name?
Many people wonder whether ‘Dua Lipa’ is actually her real name. Well, the answer is yes.
In case you didn’t know, ‘Dua’ also means ‘love’ in Albanian.
Age and Height
Dua Lipa was born on 22 August 1996. She is currently 28 years old.
She is 1.73cm tall, which is 5ft 6.7in.
Net Worth
Although there is not an official figure for Dua Lipa’s net worth, there are various claims made about it online.
For example, Celebrity Net Worth claim that Dua Lipa’s net worth is believed to be around £2.2m ($2.9m).
However, there is no official figure out there right now.
Mum and Dad
Dua Lipa’s mum and dad are originally from Kosovo, Albania, and they left Pristina in 1992.
Her dad, Dukagjin, is the son of a historian, Seit Lipa, who was the head of the Kosovo Institute of History from 1990 to 1995.
Dua Lipa has a younger sister named Rina and a younger brother named Gjin.
Dua Lipa (Photo: Warner Bros. Records / Markus Pritzi)
Boyfriend
As of 2019, Dua Lipa is dating model turned chef Isaac Carew.
Isaac is from London and according to the Daily Mail, the couple have been dating on and off since 2015.
The couple regularly post pictures of themselves together on social media – and they seem to be very loved up and happy indeed.
Dua Lipa posted this picture of herself with her Isaac Carew on social media in November 2018 (Photo: @dualipa / Instagram)
What Can We Learn from Dua Lipa?
Quite clearly, Dua Lipa’s story is an inspirational one.
One thing we can certainly take from her story is the importance of determination and dedication on the road to success.
From a young age, she held a dream of being a singer, and she did not lose sight of that even if circumstances got difficult.
The fact that she failed her A Levels at her first attempt but then re-focused and put her head down for a year to get straight As is highly admirable.
It is clear that Dua Lipa wanted to pursue a career in music from an early age. She managed to convince her parents to let her move back to London to live with a friend when she was just 15 years old.
She showed determination and perseverance as she chased her dream. And she clearly was not afraid of putting in the hard work it takes to reach the top level.
Since making her breakthrough, Dua Lipa has served as a source of inspiration for many aspiring musicians worldwide.
She clearly also has not forgotten where she came from. The setting up of the Sunny Hill Foundation in Pristina to donate to the citizens of Kosovo, her parents’ homeland, shows her appreciation and respect for her Albanian roots.
In Conclusion
Dua Lipa’s story is one of success, hard work and dedication.
There is no doubting that she would have struggled to get to where she is now if she hadn’t have had that deep-rooted desire to achieve her dreams.
The fact that she admits that she never wanted to do anything else but be a singer speaks volume for her mindset.
