Dua Lipa has been paying homage to hometown artists with covers of their biggest hits as she stops in their respective cities throughout her Radical Optimism tour. She continued the tradition while in Boston on Tuesday, honoring Aerosmith with a cover of their 1998 hit “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”
At the first of her two-night stint at TD Garden, she sang the Armageddon theme song surrounded by her band, who encircled her onstage as they delivered the performance.
Last weekend, she gave Chicago fans a twofer and a surprise legendary guest to boot. On Friday, Lipa brought out hometown treasure Chaka Khan. They performed the Rock Hall-inducted singer’s 1983 Rufus hit, “Ain’t Nobody.” On Saturday, Lipa performed a faithful rendition of the Chicago band Earth, Wind & Fire’s classic “September.”
Dua Lipa began covering hometown heroes while touring in Australia and New Zealand, where she performed renditions of AC/DC, Lorde, and Kylie Minogue’s songs. She also surprised fans with surprise guests Troye Sivan, Tame Impala, and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.
During the European leg of the tour, she covered Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” in Madrid. At London’s Wembley Stadium, she delivered Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” with help from that group’s singer Jay Kay. The next night at the same venue, she brought out Charli XCX for a rendition of that singer’s “360.” In Liverpool, she joined forces with Dave McCabe to perform the Zutons’ “Valerie,” and at her next show in the birthplace of the Beatles, she dropped the Fab Four’s “Hey Jude.” And in Dublin, she paid homage with “a song by a late Irish legend,” delivering Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism tour continues stateside, with another show at Boston’s TD Garden tonight, before heading to Atlanta for a pair of shows. Her U.S. leg, which wraps in October, includes a four-day run at Madison Square Garden beginning Sept. 17, and a four-day stint at Kia Forum in Los Angeles kicks off Oct. 4. She heads to South America in November.
