Lauren DunnAva Max was born in Wisconsin to Albanian immigrant parents, and she says there’s one special Albanian treat she’ll eat on Christmas that she knows she’ll end up regretting.
“My mom always cooks and she’s like probably one of the best chefs I know,” the “Sweet But Psycho” singer says. “And so she makes baklava [BOK-lah-vah] every year, and we joke because we always get ‘baklava belly’ because baklava is just made out of pure sugar and phyllo dough.”
“So basically you eat one baklava and you, like, regret it for the whole month. It’s really sad!” she laughs.
Another pop star who has Albanian parents is Dua Lipa, who was born in England and then moved with her parents back to their native Kosovo when she was 11. She says she can’t recall any particular holiday celebrations back in the old country.
“I guess Christmas was never really like a massive thing in Kosovo. But New Year’s is always a very big, big celebration for us,” she tells ABC Audio. Dua will be celebrating THAT in a major way this year: She’ll be performing next week on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.
Ava Max’s “Slow Dance” duet partner AJ Mitchell, meanwhile, will have a white Christmas — he’s hitting the slopes.
“Every year, like we do, like traditional presents, maybe like socks and underwear or whatever, but then we like to go and do a family vacation,” AJ tells ABC Audio. “We go skiing…snowboarding and skiing.”
But since AJ had a breakout year with hits like “Slow Dance” and “All My Friends,” what if he’s recognized by fans as he schusses down the mountain?
He laughs, “That’d be pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind it.”
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