The famous British pop singer Dua Lipa has been honoured with Albanian citizenship. Though a British citizen, Dua Lipa is the daughter of immigrants from Albania. Dua was born in London in 1995 to Anesa and Dukagjin Lipa, who hails from Kosovo.
President Bajram Begaj granted citizenship to the singing sensation, ahead of Albania’s 110th anniversary of independence from the Ottoman Empire. Begaj mentioned that it was an honour to grant Albanian citizenship to Dua Lipa, who has made her home country famous worldwide. Earlier in 2018, Lipa was honoured with the first-ever key to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo.
“I will be an Albanian with papers, too,” Lipa said before taking her citizenship oath at Tirana city hall. She also added: “It is an indescribable great joy with such acceptance, love and everything.” A passport photo was taken of the pop singer. She was later fingerprinted and signed an application form for her identity card and passport.
Dua Lipa began singing at the age of five. Her father is a former singer and guitarist in a rock band.
Dua began posting her songs on YouTube when she was 14 years old. Her debut album was released in 2017. In 2019, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Dua Lipa has also received two Guinness World Records; for most tickets sold for a live-streamed concert by a solo female artist and for most monthly listeners on Spotify for a female artist.
In 2016, Dua Lipa and her father co-founded the Sunny Hill Foundation, which would conduct annual concerts in Kosovo. The shows’ proceeds are used to help people in dire financial straits.
Dua Lipa will wrap up her annual concert tour in Tirana’s main Skanderbeg Square on Monday to commemorate the 110th independence day of Albania.