Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images | Design: F Inomata

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Dua Lipa Reflects On Her Journey To Pop Stardom: "Absolutely Mental"

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The rising star spoke to a lucky group of 200 fans at the GRAMMY Museum about how she got to where she is today, her musical influences and more
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 11, 2018 - 6:14 pm

Burgeoning popstar Dua Lipa visited the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on Sept. 28 to share the story behind her music and her rise to fame and to treat fans with an intimate performance of a few of the songs that helped her get there, including "New Rules." During the conversation with Sam Lansky, the West Coast Editor of TIME Magazine, she spoke about her gratitude for where she is today, how she got there, the music she grew up listening to, and her biggest inspirations.

Dua Lipa On Success, Influences & More

Thanks to the viral success of the breakout single "New Rules," from her debut album, Dua Lipa, the young singer/songwriter is making a name for herself as she helps shift the pop landscape towards a safer, more celebratory place for empowered, confident women. She is grateful for where she is today, as well as for everything the success of the single has allowed her to do since then.

She explains that many of the connections she has made over the years have been through social media, mainly Twitter, and have allowed her to link up with others in the music industry, as well as her fans. She appreciates how her fans are her biggest advocates and their support has allowed her to keep doing what she loves.

"I'm so grateful for all the experiences I've been given. And all these amazing places that I visited. And all the crowds that I've experienced to do really what I love," Lipa shares. "I'm really just so thankful to the fans and all the listeners that have really reacted and resonated with the music."

When Lansky asks her about her biggest inspirations, she shares how much she loved—and still loves—listening to P!nk and Nelly Furtado growing up, and learned all the words to their songs. She shares how listening to their albums when she was younger, and feeling like she really got to know the two popstars, inspired her to make music that would allow her fans to get to know her.

"I feel like I really got to know those two artists so well just by listening to their music. And that was something I aspired to do with my first album," Lipa explains. "It was all about allowing people to get to know me, for me."

Dua Lipa On Calvin Harris, Other Dream Collabs, "New Rules," & More

Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa

Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

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Dua Lipa Teases New Album, 'Future Nostalgia,' Announces 2020 Tour Dates

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The 2019 Best New Artist shared the first details of her highly anticipated sophomore LP by getting the album title tattooed on her arm
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 3, 2019 - 1:37 pm

GRAMMY-winning dance-pop queen Dua Lipa is poised to bring us boldly into the new decade. On Dec. 1, the 2019 Best New Artist shared the first details of her highly anticipated sophomore LP by getting the album title, Future Nostalgia, tattooed on her arm and posting it on social media.

The "Electricity" artist followed up the album reveal with another exciting announcement: a 24-date European tour, which she will kick off on April 26 in Madrid. The Future Nostalgia EU Tour 2020 will see the Londoner playing massive venues across Europe, two nights at London's 20,000-capacity The 02 and Berlin's Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Lipa has not announced the release date for the new album yet, although her most recent bop, the vibrant nu-disco-tinged "Don't Start Now," was confirmed to be the lead single. She dropped the "boy bye" anthem on Halloween, followed by a fun new video (where you can peek that new tattoo!) the next day, Nov. 1.

She also spoke about the forthcoming project in a recent press release:

"What I wanted to do with this album was to break out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to make music that felt like it could sit alongside some of my favorite classic pop songs, whilst still feeling fresh and uniquely mine. I was inspired by so many artists on the new record from Gwen Stefani to Madonna to Moloko to Blondie and OutKast, to name just a few.

Because of the time that I'd spent on the road touring with my band I wanted Future Nostalgia to have a lot more of a live element, but mixed together with modern electronic production. My sound has naturally matured a bit as I've grown up but I wanted to keep the same pop sensibility as I had on the first record. I remember that I was on my way to a radio show in Las Vegas thinking about the direction for this new record and I realized that what I wanted to make was something that felt nostalgic but had something fresh and futuristic about it too."

Sounds like exactly what we need in pop music in 2020!

Last October, at her powerful acoustic performance and intimate conversation at the GRAMMY Museum, the "New Rules" singer noted the personal-feeling early albums of P!nk and Nelly Furtado, two of her childhood favorites, as points of reference for her 2017 self-titled debut album. We also caught up with her before the event to chat about working with Calvin Harris, who's on her collab wish list (Rosalía and Frank Ocean are two!), what the viral success of "New Rules" felt like for her and more.

Dua Lipa Talks Calvin Harris, "New Rules," & More

Tickets for the Future Nostalgia EU Tour go on sale this Friday, Dec. 6 at 9 a.m. local time, except for Spain, whose tickets will go on sale on Dec. 5 at 9 a.m.—more details can be found on dualipa.com.

Dua Lipa Wins Best New Artist | 2019 GRAMMYs

Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa

Photo: Luc Coiffait | Design: F Inomata

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Dua Lipa On Calvin Harris, Other Dream Collabs, "New Rules," & More

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We go behind-the-scenes to hear what it was like for the pop star to work with Harris on his throwback-inspired "One Kiss," her gratitude for "New Rules" giving her "so many opportunities," and more
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 5, 2018 - 6:15 pm

Dua Lipa has been on fire lately and she's ready for more. Following the viral success of her catchy girl-power anthem "New Rules," released last summer from her debut self-titled album, she's brought more hits in the form of big-time collabs. In April, dance music powerhouse Calvin Harris dropped the summer-ready jam "One Kiss" featuring Lipa, and in September Silk City, the new Diplo and Mark Ronson production duo, gave us another dance-floor gem from the pop star with "Electricity."

Dua Lipa Talks Calvin Harris, "New Rules," & More

She visited the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on Sept. 28 to give fans an intimate conversation and performance, and we caught up with her beforehand to learn more about what it was like working with Harris, who else she would love to collab with (Frank Ocean is on her list), what song she currently has on repeat, the success of "New Rules," and more.

The star is humble about her success and grateful for the positive reception she has gotten so far. She reflects on her breakout hit single "New Rules" with gratitude for what it's allowed her to do since then.

"It was something that I wanted, but never something that I expected. It really took me by surprise," Lipa shares. "I feel like it definitely took ten steps bigger and it just gave me so many opportunities."

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James Blake

James Blake

Photo: Recording Academy

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James Blake On 'Assume Form' Collabs: "A Dream Come True" | GRAMMY Museum

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The GRAMMY-winning "Retrograde" singer talks about his 2019 album and shares who inspired him to pursue a career in music
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 16, 2020 - 11:08 am

Shortly before GRAMMY winner James Blake treated 300 or so lucky GRAMMY Museum guests to a lively conversation and acoustic piano performance, the British electro-soul artist caught up with the Recording Academy. In our Behind The Scenes conversation, Blake spoke about his empowered 2019 album, Assume Form—which is currently nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2020 GRAMMYs—and how he chose the epic collaborator list that includes current Best New Artist nominee Rosalía, André 3000, Travis Scott and Moses Sumney.

The "Retrograde" singer also shared who inspired him to pursue a career in music. (Spoiler alert, the answer is really cute.)

Watch our exclusive Behind The Scenes video with Blake below, and read on to learn more about the late-2019 GRAMMY Museum event, including what five songs he performed.

James Blake On 'Assume Form,' André 3000 & His Dad

"They're just all some of my favorite artists, so it was a dream come true, really, of a collaborator list," he told us. "I've been lucky enough that some of the people that I listen to also listen to some of my music and were happy to oblige to part of it."

"I think they all brought something really unique and we were on the same wavelength when we were making the music, so it feels natural, it feels kind of organic, and I'm so happy and honored they were able to join it."

Watch: Billie Eilish On Her Long Relationship With The GRAMMY Museum, How Rihanna Shaped Her Fashion Sense & More

Blake also shared how influential his father, the senior James Litherland (Blake was born James Blake Litherland), has been to his own music. Litherland is a life-long musician and played with the late-'60s U.K. rock outfit Colosseum. In 2011, Blake covered and reimagined his father's song "Where to Turn" on "The Wilhelm Scream," featured on his 2011 self-titled debut album.

"Over my career, there's been a running theme of coming into the foreground…with every reveal, comes some kind of risk," Blake told GRAMMY Museum's Artistic Director Scott Goldman, who moderated the event. "If Assume Form was anything, it was not only a version of songwriting clarity but also emotional clarity. It was the most clear I'd felt in a long time, so it was a good time to make an album."

Read: Find Out Who Just Made History With Their GRAMMY Nominations: 2020 GRAMMYs By The Numbers

He also dove a bit more into the album's collaborators, praising André's musicality and his "heady-ass verse" on "Where's The Catch." "His verse is f**king genius and I couldn't have written that." Blake also shared his love of Spanish nu-flamenco queen Rosalía, who brought her otherworldly vocals and fierceness to "Barefoot In The Park," noting that working with her felt super easy and natural.

After the in-depth conversation, Blake made his way over to the piano for a soulful performance that opened with Assume Form's "Are You In Love?" and closed with his "favorite song ever written about a relationship:" Joni Mitchell's "Case Of You," which he covered on his 2011 EP, Enough Thunder. In between those two heartwrenching love songs, he treated fans to "Love Me In Whatever Way," from 2016's The Colour In Anything, "Overgrown," from his 2013 album of the same name, and "Vincent," his 2017 Don McLean cover.

Don't forget to tune into the 62nd GRAMMY Awards on Sun., Jan. 26 to find out if Blake will take home the golden gramophone for Best Alternative Music Album. GRAMMY.com and CBS will be your ticket to find out all the winners and watch all the fun on GRAMMY day—see you there!

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Jared Leto

Jared Leto

Photo: Lorenzo Agius | Design: F Inomata

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Jared Leto On 'America,' Working With Halsey, "Rescue Me" & More

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We go behind the scenes with the Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman to chat about the band’s latest album, creativity, collaboration and more
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 31, 2018 - 9:52 am

Actor and musician Jared Leto may have made his name in Hollywood with major roles in films like Requiem For A Dream and Dallas Buyer Club, for which he won an Academy Award, but music has always been his main passion.

Leto formed alternative-rock group Thirty Seconds To Mars with his brother Shannon back in 1998, releasing their cult-classic, self-titled debut album in 2002. Since then, they have toured the world several times, filmed music video epics and recorded four more studio albums. Their latest LP, America, released on April 6, features tons of collaborations (Halsey, Zedd and ASAP Rocky all make appearances) and experimentation with new sounds, including a greater emphasis on pop and dance influences.

Jared Leto Talks 'America,' Halsey & "Rescue Me"

Leto recently visited the GRAMMY Museum in his hometown of Los Angeles to go in-depth on new music and more in a conversation at the Clive Davis Theater. Before the event, we caught up with the singer and actor, who revealed his favorite track on America, what it was like recording his first-ever duet (with GRAMMY nominee Halsey), his approach to making music, and more.

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