TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s president on Sunday granted citizenship to British-Albanian pop star Dua Lipa for what he called the artist’s role in spreading Albanian fame internationally through her music.
President Bajram Begaj said Lipa was granted citizenship before the 110th anniversary of Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire. Begaj said he considers it an honor to do so because Lipa made Albanians famous around the world.
“I will also be an Albanian with papers,” Lipa said before taking the oath of citizenship at Tirana City Hall. Lipa was born in London in 1995 to Albanian immigrant parents Anesa and Dukagjin Lipa from Kosovo.
Lipa, who started singing at the age of five, was influenced musically by her father, a former lead singer and guitarist in a rock band. He started posting his songs on YouTube when he was 14 years old.
His first debut studio album was released in 2017. In 2019, he won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Along with her father, she co-founded the Sunny Hill Foundation in 2016 to raise funds through annual concerts held in her native Kosovo to help people in financial difficulty.
“It’s an indescribable joy with such acceptance and love and all that,” Lipa said.
The artist then took a passport-sized photograph, took his fingerprints and signed an ID and passport application form.
Lipa will end her annual concert tour in Tirana’s main Skanderbeg Square on Monday to commemorate Independence Day.
