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Music Superstar Dua Lipa Granted Albanian Citizenship

English singer Dua Lipa arrives for the “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” the last US performance by the British singer during his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour," in Los Angeles on November 20, 2022. (AFP)
English singer Dua Lipa arrives for the “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” the last US performance by the British singer during his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour," in Los Angeles on November 20, 2022. (AFP)
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Music Superstar Dua Lipa Granted Albanian Citizenship

English singer Dua Lipa arrives for the “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” the last US performance by the British singer during his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour," in Los Angeles on November 20, 2022. (AFP)
English singer Dua Lipa arrives for the “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” the last US performance by the British singer during his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour," in Los Angeles on November 20, 2022. (AFP)

Albania’s president on Sunday granted citizenship to British pop star of Albanian origin Dua Lipa for what he said was the artist’s role in spreading Albanians’ fame internationally through her music.

President Bajram Begaj said Lipa was granted citizenship ahead of Albania’s 110th anniversary of independence from the Ottoman Empire. Begaj said he considered it an honor to do so because Lipa has made Albanians famous throughout the world.

“I will be an Albanian with papers too,” Lipa said before taking her citizenship oath at Tirana city hall.

Lipa was born in London in 1995 to immigrant Albanian parents Anesa and Dukagjin Lipa from Kosovo.

Lipa, who started singing at five years old, was musically influenced by her father, a former singer and guitarist of a rock band. She started to post her songs in YouTube when she was 14. Her first debut studio album was released in 2017. In 2019 she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Together with her father, she co-founded the Sunny Hill Foundation in 2016 to raise funds with annual concerts held in her native Kosovo to help people experiencing financial difficulties.

“It is an indescribable great joy with such acceptance, love and everything,” said Lipa. The artist then took a passport photo, was fingerprinted and signed an application form for an identity hard and passport.

Lipa will wrap up her annual concert tour in Tirana’s main Skanderbeg Square on Monday to commemorate Independence Day.

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Music Review: Gwen Stefani’s ‘Bouquet’ Is a Romantic Return to Mellow Rock — With an Ageless Voice

Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)
Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)
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Music Review: Gwen Stefani’s ‘Bouquet’ Is a Romantic Return to Mellow Rock — With an Ageless Voice

Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)
Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)

Words and phrases like "nostalgia" or "back to her roots" come to mind when listening to Gwen Stefani’s fifth studio album, "Bouquet" — and it is in no way negative.

Across 10-tracks, the powerhouse singer leans into the mellow rock of her youth — think Hall & Oates, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac — with dashes of country vibes here and there. Her voice is ageless, unaltered and distinctive, immediately recalling the early aughts when No Doubt still existed, and Stefani was still a bit of a ska girl.

Thematically, however, the songs are about a woman who’s been through the ringer — but life gave her a reprieve in her second act, and she found stability, lots of flowers and no mo’ drama. In that way, "Bouquet" is a not so furtive ode to husband Blake Shelton — who she met and fell in love with while they were both coaches on the singing reality competition show, "The Voice." At the time, they were both going through divorces to Gavin Rossdale and Miranda Lambert, respectively.

On "Bouquet," the Stefani-Shelton romance arrives through yacht rock sounds and flowery language in songs with titles like "Marigolds,Late to Bloom" and "Empty Vase." When the album reaches its end, it is with a duet with Shelton on "Purple Irises."

If the album tells a story of her relationship, it starts with the opener "Somebody Else's." Stefani starts off the proceedings by listing her previous romantic entanglement and bad choices. "I don’t know what a heart like mine/Was doin’ in a love like that, ah," she sings. "I don’t know what a woman like me/Was doin’ with a man like you, ooh."

It's a direct counter to the title track, where the focus appears to be back on Shelton: "We met when my heart was broken/Thank God that yours was, too," she shares. "So lucky that you were goin'/ Through what I was goin' through."

In "Late to Bloom," she decries the fact that they met so late in life.

A nice bass progression, a clever turn of the phrase and a great voice are what it takes to get this album going. Add a cohesive theme, a pleasant vibe and a charismatic star —- and that's coming up roses.