Today marks a very special day for the UK’s monarch: After three years since her last record Future Nostalgia, Her Royal Highness Dua Lipa is back with new music — this time for Greta Gerwig’s hotly anticipated Barbie movie!
Over the course of her career Dua became the fourth most streamed female artist globally in 2020 and earned eight Grammy nominations including three wins, one for Best Pop Vocal Album (Charles could never). Although anthems from her debut, such as “Be The One”, “Hotter Than Hell” and “New Rules”, already showed signs Dua was set to be the next big main pop girly, Future Nostalgia’s lead single “Don’t Start Now” cemented it, spending 25 weeks in the UK top 10, the seventh longest in history, and an entire year in the US charts, going quadruple platinum.
To celebrate this momentous moment in British cultural history, we’ve ranked all 53 of Dua’s songs thus far, from good to jaw-droppingly stunning.
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53. Boys will be Boys
An unapologetically feminist song with a nice sentiment, but a little contrived and lacking nuance. It’s the musical equivalent of those Instagram accounts that churn out infographics as activism or a self-help book written by an influencer.
52. No Goodbyes
Does Dua kind of sound like Sia in this song?
51. If Only (with Andrea Bocelli)
Dua’s powerful vocals hold their own on this operatic track, even if amongst the rest of her dance discography it feels like a random addition. Hate to say it, but it’s giving Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel performing Phantom of the Opera.
50. High (with Whethan)
This song is from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack meaning it was specifically written to make Gen X mums horny. No thanks.
49. My Love (with Wale, Major Lazer and WizKid)
Proof that a simple tropical track with a mindless dance beat can be marginally heightened by Dua’s effortless voice.
48. Bad Together
The
47. Room For 2
Devil
46. Garden
Works
45. Begging
Hard
44. Running
But
43. Want To
Dula
42. Dreams
Peep
41. Can They Hear Us
Works
40. Demeanor (with Pop Smoke)
Harder.
39. Homesick
This is Dua’s “Everytime” moment.
38. New Love
Dua’s first musical offering to the world. A synth-pop ballad about losing what matters to you – she’s pretty good, for her age.
37. Good in Bed
36. Sweetest Pie (with Megan thee Stallion)
Honestly, a Dua Lipa x Megan thee Stallion collab should have blown every other pop song out of existence. Alas, Ariana and Gaga live to see another day.
35. Potion (with Calvin Harris and Young Thug)
The newly-released first song from Calvin Harris’ Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 might be funky, wavy and sure does bounce, it just doesn’t hold a candle to “One Kiss”.
34. Swan Song
Dua bringing an ode to the AIDS activist group ACT UP into a James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez cyborg action movie. The L in LGBTQ+ stands for Lipa, Dua.
33. Cool
Fun fact! Scandi queen Tove Lo co-wrote this Prince-inspired synth pop moment.
32. Lost in Your Light (with Miguel)
A suave R&B toe tapper. You get motion sickness from this music video though.
31. That Kind of Woman
That dark retro 80s synth beat is kind of a turn on tbh. I said what I said.
30. Un Dia (with Bad Bunny and Tainy)
The piece she just performed for you is an academic construction. It’s not a song, it was something to show you what her voice can do.
29. Pretty Please
The chorus of this slowed-down electro-R&B track was written for a thousand voices to be chanting it in unison at a Dua concert.
28. Last Dance
This music video said wouldst thou like to live deliciously?
27. Fever (with Angéle)
Not Dua and Angéle walking the streets of London complaining about having a high temperature in 2020. Girlies, go home and isolate for 10 days.
26. Cold Heart – PNAU Remix (with Elton John)
It was so generous of Dua to give this up and coming artist Elton a platform to share his music.
25. If It Ain’t Me
The leaked original featuring Normani – GIVE IT TO ME NOW!!!
24. Sugar (with BROCKHAMPTON)
When you go to heaven you’re greeted by the sultry tones of Dua, Ryan Beatty, Jon B and Kevin Abstract’s blended vocals.
23. We’re Good
22. Scared to be Lonely (with Martin Garrix)
This future bass electro dance track plays when you re-download Hinge from the App Store.
21. Kiss and Make Up (with BLACKPINK)
This gay anthem was pitched to Britney, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato but all turned it down. It was while Dua performed the still unreleased song in Seoul in 2018, with BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Lisa in the audience, that became the impetus for this iconic collaboration.
20. Dance the Night
If you asked an AI to write a Dua Lipa song this is exactly what will come out. Which is not to say it isn’t fun, catchy and sure to smash the charts worldwide. The addictive disco beat sounds like it could be featured on Future Nostalgia and it will be interesting to see if “Dance The Night” is a finale to that era or works as a continuation into the next record. Only time will tell!
19. IDGAF
One ex really tried to slide into Dua’s DMs like “hey babe” and she wrote a dozen f*ck you anthems about it. Drag him sis!
18. Love Is Religion (Blessed Madonna Remix)
Okay, we said no Club Future Nostalgia remixes but this one is the only track that wasn’t from the original album and this gospel-imbued Madonna-esque song deserves recognition.
17. No Lie (with Sean Paul)
SEAN DA PAUL BIDDA BANG BANG BANG
16. Genesis
The opening song on Dua’s debut album and the strongest of the non-singles in its tracklist.
15. Future Nostalgia
Opening an entire album with the line “You want a timeless bop / I want to change the game” – we call that manifestation, girls!
14. Prisoner (with Miley Cyrus)
This is rock music for those of us who like leather trousers, horror movies and chain-smoking (but only on a night out) and overshare on our alt Twitter.
13. Break My Heart
The soft choreo in this music video! Hilary Duff could never.
12. Love Again
The power that that riff has, the intelligence that that riff has, the clearance that that riff has, the impact that that riff has, the access that that riff has, the influence that that riff has, the profile that that riff has, the international implications that that riff has.
11. Real Groove – Studio 2054 Remix (with Kylie Minogue)
My only regret in life is not getting a ticket for the Studio 2054 livestream concert during lockdown and missing these two powerhouse pop icons perform this post-disco anthem together for one night and one night only.
10. New Rules
If you can’t ignore your ex’s last night drunk calls and Instagram DMs being like “you up?” for yourself, do it for patron saint Dua and her commandments. It’s like that tweet, “I like Dua Lipa’s music because it gives me little instructions”.
9. One Kiss (with Calvin Harris)
When Calvin DMed Dua on Twitter and requested her presence on a song she’d sound great on, did he know that history would be made? “One Kiss” is one of the standouts of both artist’s careers thus far.
8. Electricity (with Silk City, Mark Ronson and Diplo)
It’s kinda weird the song’s credits mention Mark Ronson and Diplo individually when they are literally the only two members of Silk City anyway but hey, this 90s-inspired dance pop masterpiece won a Grammy Award and smashed charts the world over and so I too would want as much recognition for it as possible.
7. Levitating
We are, of course, specifically referring to the non-DaBaby version but “Levitating” is one of those songs that sounds better and better with each listen. Remember that white feather hat she wore on SNL, ethereally swaying in the wind as she performed the song? Stunning.
6. Blow Your Mind (Mwah)
She said she’d guarantee she could blow your mind and she delivered. The music video for this song about being comfortable in your own skin also features a Pride parade with signs saying “you can sit with us” and “Dua for president”. Tbh, we would like to see it!
5. Hallucinate
This is one of those songs that needs to be heard in the middle of a crowded, sticky dance floor in a basement lit by strobe lights with the person next to you’s drink sloshing across your arm to understand its full impact. It is criminal that this disco house anthem was released during a pandemic that stopped us from doing so.
4. Don’t Start Now
If you ask a straight person what Dua Lipa’s best song is, they will say “Don’t Start Now”. Tbf, Dua was the most played artist in the UK in 2020 and the majority of those listens can be attributed to this catchy nu-disco TikTok trend classic that had a chokehold on the charts for months (it’s the 7th longest charting song in UK music history). It cemented the singer as one of the world’s main pop stars. It was, literally, a cultural reset.
3. Be The One
With so many dance pop bangers under her belt it can be easy to forget the one that started it all. But though “Be The One” was a sleeper hit, it gave us our first glimpse of her signature soulful synth pop sound. It feels like you’re floating while you’re listening to it.
2. Physical
There are only two people allowed to touch Olivia Newton John’s 80s classic “Physical”: Dua Lipa and Sue Sylvester. It’s a very difficult feat to take a timeless piece of pop culture and reinvent it into something completely fresh but just as iconic. Dua’s second single from Future Nostalgia did just that – a veritable bop that had us all racing to our nearest spin class.
1. Hotter Than Hell
An empowerment anthem that makes you feel like that bitch. I sing this song to myself as I do my morning skincare routine and then strut through the rest of the day truly believing I am the main character. One for the Blumarine-wearing hotties, “Hotter Than Hell” is a pure dance pop standout amongst Dua’s glowing discography and was the moment when many of us knew we were in the presence of greatness.
This article was originally published on 2 June 2022 and has since been updated.