Nicole NodlandIt’s taken seven months, but Dua Lipa‘s self-titled debut album has finally hit the top 40 on the Billboard chart, thanks to the success of her single, “New Rules.” Maybe now, people will stop mangling her name.
Born in London, Dua is of Albanian descent; her first name means “love” in that language. But her name presents quite a challenge almost everywhere.
“It normally happens when I check into places and they give me a visitor card,” she tells ABC Radio. “I’ve had Doopah Loopah – that’s always a great one. Or Deepah Leepa.”
She laughs, “Those both have happened, and my band love to mention that over and over again!”
But if Dua hadn’t been so determined to make it as a global pop star, she might still be in Kosovo, where everyone can pronounce her name. When she was 11, her family moved there from London, but she decided she didn’t want to stay.
“I really, really discovered how much I love performing in front of people when I was in Kosovo,” she tells ABC Radio. “I’d get up in school concerts and I’d sing…I just loved being in the limelight and I was really up for doing more of it.”
But she didn’t want to limit herself to a career in Kosovo.
“It’s just very small,” she says. “And at the time, I didn’t feel like I could get discovered through YouTube…from over there and I felt the only way I could do it was to go back to London.”
So at age 15, Dua moved back to London herself. She modeled, networked, worked on music and landed a record deal at age 20. She’s now nominated for five BRIT Awards, and “New Rules” is #11 on the Billboard chart.
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