2018 has been an incredible year for the music industry with many phenomenal records being released. It has also been a successful year for British artists, most notably pop princess Dua Lipa who has gone from strength to strength and truly has made 2018 the best year a new artist could ask for.
BRIT Awards
Dua kickstarted her year with earning 5 BRIT Award nominations for British Female Solo Act, British Breakthrough Act, Mastercard British Album of the Year, British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year, making history as the first female artist to receive five nominations at the BRITs. On the awards night she walked home with Best Female Solo Artist ad British Breakthrough Act after a mega performance of her Number One triple platinum single ‘New Rules.’
One Kiss
No matter where you were in the world this year, you were guaranteed to hear the anthem of this summer ‘One Kiss.’ The infectious club banger by Calvin Harris and Dua became one of the biggest songs of 2018, spending eight consecutive weeks at Number One in the UK. ‘One Kiss’ became the longest-running number one by a lead female artist in the UK this decade, and the second longest-running number one of the century by a female artist. The song was also her opening number for her amazing UEFA Champions League Final performance in May of this year.
The Self-Titled Tour and Festival Firsts
Since 2017, Dua has been taking her Self-Titled tour all across the world, and 2018 saw it expand to even bigger and better stages. Beginning the year in smaller venues across America, the tour extended to arenas across the UK, playing venues such as the infamous Alexandra Palace in London and 15,000+ at Birmingham Genting Arena. The tour took Dua to playing her first headlining shows across Asia, which would later lead to an incredible collaboration, and returning to concert halls of thousands across America and Europe. The major scale tour concluded on December 10th of this year after a whopping 14 legs and over 200+ shows.
2018 also propelled the singer to new heights in festivals. This summer she made her Reading and Leeds festival debut this August, bringing in one of the biggest crowds and setting the stage alight to the sold-out crowds. Dua also performed as Lollapalooza Paris and Berlin and Tomorrowland to name a few.
SunnyHill Festival
While we have just discussed the festival season, we couldn’t not give this event its own moment to shine.
August 2018 saw Dua and her father created their own festival in her home nation Kosovo named ‘SunnyHill Festival’, becoming the biggest musical event in Kosovo. Aiming to increase the music scene in her home, Dua brought artists to discover the area and the fans they have while also headlining the opening night of SunnyHill. As a result, she was given the first key in Kosovo from the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti.
Stellar Collaborations
As well as the smash hit ‘One Kiss’, there were a multitude of collaborations that Dua Lipa was a part of in 2018. The newly formed British-American duo Silk City (Mark Ronson and Diplo) released their biggest single to date ‘Electricity’ with the pop princess, which peaked at Number four on the UK Official Charts and broke the Billboard Top 100 also. The biggest surprise collaboration of the year came in October of 2018, when Dua announced that a secret project would feature none other than South Korean girlgroup BlackPink. ‘Kiss and Makeup’ entered the UK Official Charts at 36 and the Billboard Hot 100 at 93. All of these incredible collaborations featured on ‘Dua Lipa: Complete Edition.’
Grammy Nominations
While 2018 was the perfect year for any artist, it ended on an even bigger high for Britain’s new IT girl. December 7th saw the release of the 2019 Grammy Award nominations, where it was revealed that Dua Lipa was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording for ‘Electricity.’ Speaking to Billboard, the Grammy nominee claimed this to be the “f*****g highlight of my year” and that she had been “crying all morning. I’m really excited and grateful and taken back by the response. It’s hard for me to put it into words.”
What does 2019 hold?
Little is known so far about her plans for 2019 but Dua has teased for some time now that her sophomore album will most likely be released next year and told the Official Charts that it is influenced by Prince and Outkast. The Grammy Awards is due to be held on February 10th and we hope to see her take home her nominations.
So what was your highlight of Dua Lipa’s this year? Let us know by tweeting the CelebMix account!