British pop star Dua Lipa gets Albanian citizenship

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Musician Dua Lipa in Los Angeles

Photo: MICHAEL TRAN / AFP

British pop singer Dua Lipa, daughter of Kosovar Albanian parents, now has Albanian citizenship.

She was very proud, Lipa wrote on Instagram on Sunday and thanked President Bajram Begaj and Tirana's Mayor Erion Veliaj - followed by emojis such as the national flag of Albania and a heart.

President Begaj wrote on Twitter about the 27-year-old musician: "She has made us proud with her global career and her commitment to important social causes."

Dua Lipa was born in London in 1995 to Kosovar Albanian parents.

At the age of eleven she moved with her parents to their homeland and returned to London a few years later.

As she once said, she got to know the language and culture of her home country through novels by the Kosovar-Albanian writer Ismail Kadare.

Her father, who used to be a singer and guitarist in a rock band, influenced her musically.

As a teenager, she began posting songs on YouTube.

Last year she received a Grammy in the category »Best Pop Vocal Album« for her second studio album, the pandemic disco record »Future Nostalgia«.

skr/AP/dpa