TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s president on Sunday granted citizenship to British Albanian pop star Dua Lipa for what he described as the artist’s role in spreading Albanians international fame through her music.
President Bajram Bajaj said that Lipa was granted citizenship before the 110th anniversary of Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire. Bijaj said he considered it an honor to do so because Lipa made Albanians famous all over the world.
“I will be Albanian and I have papers too,” Lipa said before taking the citizenship oath at the Tirana City Hall.
Lipa was born in London in 1995 to Albanian immigrant parents Anisa and Dukagen Lipa from Kosovo.
Lipa, who started singing at the age of five, was musically influenced by her father, the former singer and guitarist of a rock band. She started posting her songs on YouTube when she was 14 years old. Her debut studio album was released in 2017. In 2019, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Along with her father, she co-founded the Sunny Hill Foundation in 2016 to raise money through annual concerts held in her native Kosovo to help people in financial difficulty.
“It is such a great, indescribable joy with such acceptance and love and everything,” Lipa said. After that, the artist took a passport photo, took his fingerprints and signed an application form for an identity card and passport.
Lipa will conclude her annual concert tour at Tirana’s main Skanderbeg Square on Monday to celebrate Independence Day.
