Anecdotally speaking, most people tend to regret their first tattoo, but musician Dua Lipa is not one of those people. In fact, nearly five years after getting inked for the first time, Lipa reveals that her first remains the most meaningful piece of body art she has — and she told us all about it.
At just 24, Lipa has collected 15 tattoos over the past few years. For example, she added a flame and smily face to her finger just three months ago, and before that, she got
245 stamped on her arm, the number of shows she'd performed at the time. But her first? That came in 2015 when Lipa was just 19 and made her first trip to tattoo artist Sean Williams (better known by the Instagram handle @seanfromtexas).
245 stamped on her arm, the number of shows she'd performed at the time. But her first? That came in 2015 when Lipa was just 19 and made her first trip to tattoo artist Sean Williams (better known by the Instagram handle @seanfromtexas).
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Naturally, our recent chat with Lipa around her new YSL fragrance gig turned to tats, and as soon as we asked for her favourite, she anointed the "Sunny Hill" inked just below the ditch of her right arm as her most loved. "It's the neighbourhood my parents grew up in Kosova," she explained. "[Sunny Hill] became the name of our foundation and then the name of our festival. It holds a special meaning for me."
Lipa and her father, Dukagjin Lipa, first organised the Sunnyhill Festival last year to raise money for the eponymous foundation. In early June 2018, Lipa tweeted to fans about the summer event, noting that it'd always been a dream of her father's. "He had an idea to create a festival in Prishtina, Kosova with lots of international and home acts to really help put Kosova on the map culturally," she wrote. "SunnyHill festival is coming this summer to Germia Park and 25% of all ticket proceedings are going to SunnyHill Foundation to aid the youth of Kosova in creative arts."
Like anyone with a huge tattoo collection, Lipa admits that she sometimes forgets she has so many — except for Sunny Hill. "I don't think about it, [my tattoos have] just become me," says Lipa. "But my Sunny Hill tattoo is always special. It takes me back to home and the reason why I do what I do."