Artists play surprise covers in concert all the time. They record all-covers albums, do special versions for streaming services or B-sides. Kelly Clarkson has covered dozens of songs for her “Kelly-oke” series; Miley Cyrus dropped a bunch online during the pandemic. Sometimes there’s a tribute or theme or personal or geographic connection, sometimes they just like the song.
But to our knowledge, no artist has ever gone as high-concept as Dua Lipa on her 2025 “Radical Optimism” tour, which has seen her and her top-notch band covering a different song, always connected to an artist from the city in which they’re performing, every single night of the tour (except one, as you’ll see) — from Australia, where they launched the covers with AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” and New Zealand, across Europe and North America, with the Latin American dates starting next month. To date, they’ve performed 56 different covers.
In the middle of the set, after they perform “These Walls,” there’s a surprise, and usually an unpredictable one: At her four New York shows, she and the band played songs by Alicia Keys, Blondie, Chic and Lenny Kravitz — iconic yet un-obvious songs paying tribute to the city’s contemporary musical legacy.
It’s an enormous challenge, even for professional musicians, because not only do they have to learn to play these songs convincingly — for a hometown audience that might take offense if they mess it up — but as the tour crossed Europe over the summer, Dua herself had to learn songs in languages she doesn’t speak, and not just any songs, but iconic ones that show respect for the host cities and countries.
They’ve also been joined on many occasions by the original artists — from Kravitz to Gwen Stefani, from Lionel Richie to Troye Sivan, from Chaka Khan to Czech singer Ewa Farna, from Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to her own father, Dukagjin Lipa, who joined her onstage in his homeland of Kosovo to sing in Albanian.
As the North American leg of the tour wraps in Seattle tonight, she and the band will add a 57th cover song to the set (a full list is published below), a daunting task that has put them in a similar league of versatility as the Roots or Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, where you could find yourself playing a song before thousands, hours after you’d heard it for the first time.
Variety caught up with Dua and her bassist and bandleader Matty Carroll over Zoom from San Francisco, at which point they were on the 46th of the 60-odd songs they’ll be learning on the tour.
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You’ve got a show tonight, shouldn’t you be learning a Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane song?
Dua: (Laughter) We have already done our soundcheck, I’m excited for tonight’s song.
Matty: Yeah, we’ve got a guest coming down as well. [pictured above, Billie Joe Armstrong joined them for Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends”; the night before it had been “Piece of My Heart,” made famous by Janis Joplin.]
We might as well start at the beginning. Whose idea was this, and how did it come about?
Dua: This was my idea. It came about purely because I had done a song for the American Country Music Awards with Chris Stapleton, and it was so much fun that I proposed it to the band and to the team: How fun would it be if every night we do a different song? And everyone was like, well that’s quite ambitious.
Matty: It started as we were going to do a few over the course of the tour, right? But then we had that initial rehearsal and put three together really quickly, and then we said we could do a different one every night.
Dua: Exactly.
Who chooses the songs?
Dua: It’s definitely a team effort in the end, but before each leg of the tour, I make a little playlist — although when we started doing it, in Australia, it was all of us in the band room, together: “Let’s do [AC/DC’s] ‘Highway to Hell’!,” because it just seemed mad and crazy. So we got up and rehearsed it, and then we said, “Let’s try something else” — we didn’t end up performing it in the end, but I think it was Savage Garden. Then we did “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS [and more Australian-themed covers], and then we went to New Zealand and did [Lorde’s] “Royals” and [Crowded House’s 1986 hit] “Don’t Dream It’s Over” as well.
But then we started getting guests in and we became a little bit spoiled for choice, because people were down to join us. We had Kevin [Parker from Tame Impala], Troye [Sivan], [Crowded House frontman] Neil Finn came down.
With Gwen Stefani in Los Angeles
Are you learning each one on the day of the show during soundcheck, or is it planned further in advance?
Matty: As far in advance as we can.
Dua: But some are done on the day — well, not quite on the day. Usually, when we’re in soundcheck we do the song of the night and the next night’s song, even if we have a guest. But sometimes, you know, time is of the essence, and the beauty of it — and the thing that’s so nerve-wracking and insane — is the fact that we do have a very, very limited amount of time to learn all these songs.
Matty: And if there’s a last-minute guest …
Dua: Yeah, someone comes in and then we’re just like, “Oh, fuck it, we’re changing the song!”
Matty: “OK, let’s get back into the band practice room and work it out.”
Dua: We’re light on our feet, for sure.
It’s not easy to get a song tour-tight that quickly, especially a beloved song by a local artist in a place where you’re not a native. Isn’t that nerve-wracking?
Dua: It’s very nerve-wracking! Especially when we we’re doing them in different languages, that’s definitely — my God, my playlist was on loop, all I was doing was looking at the lyrics and listening over and over for intonations and accents and how to try and perfect things in Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Czech!
Matty: Czech was the mad one, wasn’t it?
Dua: Yeah, that was really hard, because I had no connection, phonetically or sonically, to the language — I’d heard languages like French and German more often, so it was a little bit easier. And then the wildest thing happened in Prague: We picked the Czech song because [keyboardist] Georgie’s dad had lived in Prague and recommended a song by [Czech star] Ewa Farna. We had a little bit of a crazy time with that one because she’s got two versions of the song — one in Czech and one in Polish — and a couple of days before the show I had this awful sinking feeling: “What if we just learned this whole song in Polish?” I was panicking about that, but we triple-checked that we were doing it in Czech.
So on the first night, I’m absolutely shaking in my boots, hoping that I’m going to get my pronunciation right, and Ewa Farna was in the crowd! I got offstage and my whole team was like, “You’re never going to guess who’s in the audience.” They brought her to the dressing room and I was like, “Do you just want to come and sing it with me tomorrow?,” because we had two nights, and she was so up for it and was amazing. So that was a really unexpected guest.
It also looks like that’s the only song you’ve repeated?
Dua: Yes, it was the only one. We did have another song planned for the second night, but honestly, learning that song in Czech was such a big accomplishment for me that getting to do it twice felt very good.
For songs in non-English languages, do you have the lyrics written out phonetically in a teleprompter, or are you just practicing all day?
Dua: I’m just practicing all day, repeating them over and over and over again. I spend so much time reading lyrics as I’m listening, trying to get it all in my head. And then I just rely on that.
Matty: It’s the race of the muscle memory: How many times can you get it into your brain?
It must be an enormous challenge for the band for the band as well. Matty, is there one person in particular who takes the lead on getting the covers down, or is it everyone?
Matty: It’s very much a divide-and-conquer. We decide on the song, I’ll work with Dua on the structure, the key, making sure everything is in its right place, and then we’ll start getting parts out to the band. Everyone does their homework. I mean, the band’s fantastic.
Dua: Unreal! Honestly, everyone is incredible and so talented. And what I also love about it is that everyone gets a real moment to shine. Sometimes when you make a pop show, there’s not so much room for spontaneity, and this has given us so much space to just be a band. We’ve gotten so tight and rely on each other so much, it’s definitely a bonding experience. It’s also really funny because “These Walls” is a breakup song, but we’re all smiling because we’re thinking about the next song that’s coming up.
Matty: It’s half smiling, half anxiety!
Apart from the language challenges, which song was the most difficult to sing?
Dua: [Indila’s] “Dernier Danse” in French was really hard because it’s so big, plus in another language, but I loved it.
Matty: There’s a few of the songs where you introduce the track, and we all kind of look at each other like, “Best of luck!”
Matty, which one was the most difficult for the band to learn, and why?
Matty: I think [Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine’s] “Conga.” It’s so fast and intricate, and played in a style that’s so far out from anything we’re playing on the tour. It was a real move into a different genre — a real flex, Georgie nailed the piano part. And it was just over in a flash as well!
Dua: That was wild. We turned to each other like, “This is a roast!”
Did you intentionally not play Sweden so you wouldn’t have to learn an ABBA song? Their songs are famously difficult to play.
Dua: It’s funny because I did think that it would be amazing to sing ABBA, but no — I think the tour dates were set first before we even decided on [playing covers].
Which ones have been the most fun to play?
Dua: Oooooh, that’s so hard, because so many of them have been so fun… I think the one with Lenny Kravitz, “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over.”
Matty: I still can’t remember it,
Dua: What??
Matty: because it was, like, such an awe[-struck] moment. I think I’m going to get to Christmas —
Dua: And then you’re going to be like, “I can’t believe that happened!”
Matty: One of my favorites was the first one, “Highway to Hell,” because it was the first time we experienced [the covers concept] together. The guitars came in at the beginning, and a huge cheer went up.
Dua: I think people couldn’t quite believe we were playing it. (Laughing) But it was all over the news in Australia for like three days! Everyone sang along, it was so wild.
And which one got the most rapturous audience response?
Matty: Oh, I know my answer to that one.
Dua: Go on.
Matty: Amsterdam.
Dua: I was going to say the same! ““Bloed, zweet en tranen” a song by this Dutch legend named Andre Hazen. And the whole place just erupted. Sharon, my choreographer’s assistant, she’s Dutch. And so I asked her, because we also were talking about maybe doing Van Halen — because [the Van Halen brothers were born in the Netherlands], we had “Jump” ready as well. But she was like, honestly, Andre Hazen is an Amsterdam legend. And I was like, right, well, I’d better get cracking. We only decided to do that like four days before.
Matty: But Sharon said, it’s like their national anthem, everybody knows it. And as soon as we started playing it, it just kicked off. It was amazing.
So many of the covers are not obvious, do you ever propose one and then say, “Nah, they’ll be expecting that”?
Dua: Honestly, no. I think we just go with songs that we love, and I think they all have some kind of story or personal connection, or evoke a feeling. We’re not picking completely obscure songs, they’re all very well known [to the audiences], for the most part. But maybe they’re not the first songs that people would choose from certain artists. Like, when we thought about a Nelly Furtado song for Toronto, there’s so much amazing legacy there with her and Timbaland’s party songs. But the Nelly that I fell in love with, because it was the first CD I ever bought, was the “Woah Nelly!” album, so “I’m Like a Bird” had to be the song.
At the first Madison Square Garden show played Alicia Keys’ “No One” and opened with that video of you singing it at a talent show as an 11-year-old — apart from the Nelly Furtado song, are there others that have that kind of deep personal connection to you?
Dua: Even Aerosmith and “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” was very nostalgic for me — I was like, “This is for any kid who was ever armed with LimeWire!” And Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out My Head.” I have such a vivid memory of being in like year three [of school] in London, that music video coming out, and it was all I sang. Even “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, we chose that because you were playing [the song’s riff on] the bass, and I was like, “We’re doing this?”
You’re going to continue on the Latin American tour as well, learning more songs in different languages?
Dua: Yes, that is going to be another challenge, all in Spanish and Portuguese. So, watch this space.
All right, and here’s the million-dollar question: Are you guys going to make an album out of them?
Dua: Um… [funny Greta Garbo accent], I cannot reveal the answer!
Anything more you’d like to say?
Matty: Well, because we’re still in the process of touring, you kind of do one and “OK, that was great, on to the next one and the next one.” And I think at Christmas when we look back at a year of doing 60-70 covers, and the guests and the experiences that we’ve all shared together on that stage. It’s just been magical, getting to perform with Lenny, with Nile Rodgers, with Chaka Khan, you know?
Dua: Legends!
Matty: I said to one of Chaka’s team [about “Ain’t Nobody”], “That was one of the first bass lines that I ever learned to play,” and then it’s the full-circle moment kind of coming back around and playing it with everyone onstage with her. There have been so many big emotional moments and core memories formed.
Dua, any parting words?
Dua: It’s been so much fun, and it’s been so exciting to exercise those muscles and being able to do so many different genres and songs and to collaborate with so many incredible artists and legends. And also, what it’s done for us as a band and how it’s brought us together and made us stronger — it’s almost like we’ve done years of bonding learning these songs so quickly.
And I think it’s beautiful for the fans — that kind of nod of respect of the music and the culture that comes from the city or [area]. I’m sure other people are going to be doing it after this — it is really fun and really rewarding but it is a lot of fucking hard work, so good luck! (Laughter)
DUA LIPA “RADICAL OPTIMISM” COVERS CHRONOLOGY
Bandmembers: Matthew Carroll (bandleader/bass), Sophie Galpin (guitar/backing vocals), Alex Lanyon (guitar/ backing vocals), Ciara O’Connor (backing vocals), Naomi Scarlett (backing vocals), Adam “Smiley” Wade (drums), Georgie Ward (keyboards).
Mar-17 Melbourne, Australia “Highway to Hell” AC/DC
Mar-19 Melbourne “Torn” Natalie Imbruglia
Mar-20 Melbourne “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” Kylie Minogue
Mar-22 Melbourne GUEST: Troye Sivan “Rush”
Mar-23 Melbourne GUEST: Vance Joy “Riptide”
Mar-26 Sydney “Never Tear Us Apart” INXS
Mar-28 Sydney GUEST: Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker “The Less I Know the Better”
Mar-29 Sydney GUEST: Angus Stone “Big Jet Plane”
Apr-02 Auckland, New Zealand “Royals” Lorde
Apr-04 Auckland GUEST: Crowded House’s Neil Finn “Don’t Dream It’s Over”
May-11 Madrid, Spain “Hero” Enrique Iglesias
May-12 Madrid “Me Gustas Tu” Manu Chao
May-15 Lyon, France “Derniere Danse” Indila
May-16 Lyon “Get Lucky” Daft Punk
May-19 Hamburg, Germany “99 Luftballons” Nena
May-20 Hamburg “Wind of Change” Scorpions
May-23 Nanterre, France “Moi Lolita” Alizee
May-24 Nanterre “Be My Baby” Vanessa Paradis
May-27 Prague, Czechia “Na Ostri Noze” Ewa Farna
May-28 Prague GUEST: Ewa Farna “Na Ostri Noze”
May-31 Munich, Germany “Forever Young” Alphaville
Jun-01 Munich “Stolen Dance” Milky Chance
Jun-03 Amsterdam, Netherlands “Bloed, zweet en tranen” Andre Hazes
Jun-04 Amsterdam “Scared to Be Lonely” Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa
Jun-07 Milan, Italy “A far l’amore comincia tu” Raffaella Carra
Jun-11 Antwerp, Belgium “Sensualite” Axelle Red
Jun-12 Antwerp GUEST: Pierre de Maere “Un jour je marierai un ange”
Jun-13 Antwerp GUEST: Angele “Fever”
Jun-20 London, U.K. GUEST: Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay “Virtual Insanity”
Jun-21 London GUEST: Charli xcx “360”
Jun-24 Liverpool GUEST: the Zutons’ Dave McCabe “Valerie”
Jun-25 Liverpool “Hey Jude” Beatles
Jun-27 Dublin, Ireland “Nothing Compares 2 U” Sinead O’Connor
Aug-01 Pristina, Kosovo GUEST: Dukagjin Lipa “Era” Gjurmt
Sep-01 Toronto, Canada “I’m Like a Bird” Nelly Furtado
Sep-02 Toronto GUEST: Mustafa the Poet “Name of God”
Sep-05 Chicago GUEST: Chaka Khan “Ain’t Nobody”
Sep-06 Chicago “September” Earth Wind & Fire
Sep-09 Boston “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” Aerosmith
Sep-10 Boston “Bad Girls” Donna Summer
Sep-13 Atlanta “Hey Ya” OutKast
Sep-14 Atlanta “No Scrubs” TLC
Sep-17 New York City “No One” Alicia Keys
Sep-18 New York City “One Way or Another” Blondie
Sep-20 New York City GUEST: Chic’s Nile Rodgers “Le Freak”
Sep-21 New York City GUEST: Lenny Kravitz “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over”
Sep-26 Miami “Conga” Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
Sep-27 Miami “One Last Time” Ariana Grande
Sep-30 Dallas “Since U Been Gone” Kelly Clarkson
Oct-01 Dallas GUEST: Leon Bridges “Beyond”
Oct-04 Los Angeles “The Chain” Fleetwood Mac
Oct-05 Los Angeles “California Dreamin’” Mamas & the Papas
Oct-07 Los Angeles GUEST: Lionel Richie “All Night Long (All Night)”
Oct-08 Los Angeles GUEST: Gwen Stefani “Don’t Speak” No Doubt
Oct-11 San Francisco “Piece of My Heart” Janis Joplin
Oct-12 San Francisco GUEST: Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
Oct-15 Seattle GUEST: Brandi Carlile “The Story”
Oct-16 TBD!
From Variety US