Dua Lipa’s 10 Biggest Career Milestones: Grammys, ‘Barbie,’ More

It’s an incredible origin story: When Lipa was just 15 years-old, the English-Albanian teenager convinced her parents to let her move back to London on her own to eventually pursue a singing career. Her family, who had immigrated to London before the star was born and returned to Kosovo when Dua was 11, relented.  —M.G.

Lipa’s 2015 debut single “New Love” was the song that started it all. Shortly after signing with Warner Music, the then 19 year-old singer released an intriguing earworm that showcased her booming vocals and penchant for creating infectious pop music. —M.G.

With “New Rules,” Lipa gave the world a masterclass in handling tumultuous breakups and incessant ex-lovers, wrapping her wisdom in an ingenious hook and delivering it in a voice that felt like it was coming from an older sister or a wise best friend. The results marked Lipa as the girl’s girl of pop music. “New Rules” flooded the airwaves and went on to chart No. 6 on the Hot 100, helping her break ground across the pond in the U.S. —M.G.

Lipa received the seal of approval from the U.S. music industry with a nomination and eventual win for the Best New Artist Grammy in 2019. In her acceptance speech, Dua fearlessly clapped back at the Recording Academy’s President Neil Portnow for his 2018 comment about women performers that needed to “step up,” remarking, “I guess this year we really stepped up.” —M.G.

Lipa had a Studio 54 vision and perfectly executed it with Future Nostalgia, which was ready for release in early 2020, just as the Covid pandemic began. While many artists pushed back their album release dates, Lipa made the executive decision to put out the album in March. It was a ballsy move, one that paid off: her disco revival ended up bringing much-needed levity and joy during a collectively dark time. Lipa was subsequently dubbed the “Quarantine Queen,” and each single proved to be more successful than the last. To cap off a surprisingly big 2020, Lipa hosted her Studio 2054 livestream so that the world could keep dancing from home with her. It ended up breaking records, pulling in 5 million paid viewers.–B.S.

A 25-year-old Lipa landed on our cover in 2021, following her meteoric rise after the massive album that was Future Nostalgia. The star was still reeling from the frenzied success when she talked to senior writer Alex Morris about her sophomore album, tarot cards, and the power dynamics of beauty, revealing how she has “never really seen being pretty or beautiful as some kind of power.” —M.G.

After the release of Future Nostalgia, Lipa took to the post-Covid lockdown Grammys stage to perform her “Levitating” remix with Da Baby as well as her massive hit “Don’t Start Now.” The dazzling performance proved all the “go girl give us nothing” memes completely wrong. —M.G.

As noted in our February cover story, Lipa is “your favorite rock star’s favorite pop star.” This all started when she jumped on Elton John’s track “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” and helped the British pop-rock royal nab his first Number One U.K. single in more than a decade. —M.G.

Dominating the pop landscape isn’t enough for Lipa who has plunged headfirst into the world of media with her lifestyle newsletter, Service95, and its accompanying podcast, Dua Lipa: At Your Service. Service95 features a personal book rec from Dua herself and stories ranging from political deep dives to sceney profiles with the goal of “celebrat[ing] the power of stories and recommendations from across the globe.” —M.G.

Lipa’s acting debut was iconic: She played an ethereal Mermaid Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 blockbuster. But Lipa didn’t just sport bright-pink and blue wigs and open a beer for John Cena’s Merman Ken onscreen — she also worked on a Mark Ronson-produced track for the movie’s soundtrack. “Dance the Night Away” was “intrinsic to the DNA of the film,” as Kevin Weaver, Atlantic Records’ West Coast president, told Rolling Stone. In November, “Dance the Night Away” was nominated for the Song of the Year Grammy. —M.G.