It’s not all sex, drugs and rock’n’roll… Dua Lipa reveals she spends her time reading between gigs

Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll is perhaps the first image that comes to mind when we think of musicians on tour.

But British pop star Dua Lipa proves you can’t always judge a book by its cover – literally.

The singer, 27, has revealed how, starting in 2016, she hosted a book club with her crew during three years of touring.

Speaking at Hay Festival, she said, “Before touring, I traveled a lot. So I just made a very conscious decision. As if I was not sleeping, I was reading. It helps you get through so many stories.

‘Especially on tour I had the feeling that I already had a kind of book club with the dancers and the photographer and that everyone was sharing books with each other and among themselves.

“It was that sense of community again, but we just liked having extra things to talk about because there’s a real routine that happens on tour… it’s the same thing every day. So having another conversation or something else that happens because of it is really fun to introduce.”

The singer has launched a monthly book club through her own platform, Service95, as well as a podcast, At Your Service, where she interviews names including Edward Enninful, Sir Elton John and Amal Clooney.

She hosted a live recording at Hay on Saturday night in conversation with Scottish author Douglas Stuart, whose works include Young Mungo and Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain.

Ms Lipa, whose hits include New Rules and Be The One, recently teamed up with the Booker Prize to discuss his novel at a reading session at HMP Downview.

Speaking of her favorite books, the Hotter than Hell singer pointed to Czech author Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which she claimed helped her in a past relationship.

Ms Lipa did not specify with whom, but was in a relationship with model Isaac Crew at the time.

She told the audience, “I think the book just had really interesting themes that helped me understand, you know, books really help you understand other people’s emotions or what they’re going through and different perspectives on the human experience.”

“And I found that really fascinating and that was the part I was drawn to in the book.”

Published in 1984, the novel is set in Prague during the late 1960s and early 1970s and describes the revolution of the Prague Spring in 1968. It was later made into a movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche .

Ms Lipa’s performance was a move away from the traditional speakers invited to Hay, which this year also featured grime artist Stormzy, who was there to discuss five years of his publishing company, Merky Books.