Dua Lipa is determined to make sure her triumphant career lasts as long as possibleCredit: Planet Photos

The singer has set her sights on emulating Madonna by peaking in her mid-fortiesCredit: PA:Press Association

In fact, the 24-year-old singer, now worth an estimated £16million thanks to her domination of the charts, has set her sights on emulating Madonna by peaking in her mid-forties — before putting her feet up and getting back into bad habits.

Though in a new interview, Dua admits she feared she would never make it in pop.

She even got a tattoo saying “Patience” to urge herself to keep sight of her goals ahead of a performance at Glastonbury three years ago, amid fears that nobody would turn up.

Now, after two best-selling albums, a string of Brit and Grammy Awards and a charity collaboration with Foo Fighters rock icon Dave Grohl, she says: “I want to do this for as long as I can.

Dua won awards for Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording at the 2019 Grammy AwardsCredit: AFP or licensors

“I feel like Madonna peaked at 40 or 45 and made the best pop album known, and she continues to kill it.

“Women, we can do it for as long as we want to. And then at some point I’ll retire with a couple of dogs and take up smoking again.”

She adds: “The success I’ve had is more than I ever imagined was possible. To be really honest, I never thought I would get this far.

“Not because I didn’t think I could, but because I didn’t know something like this was possible.

The past two years have seen Dua break through from respected pop newcomer to mainstream starCredit: Rex Features

“Every time I went on stage was so exciting. At the Grammys, that moment, I sometimes have to watch it back to remember it, because when they called my name I felt like I blacked out.

“That’s why I got my tattoo, Patience, on my hand. It’s a reminder that everything takes time and you have to work really hard.

“It can be frustrating because you have to play the long game, you have to spend the hours in the studio and write.

“You have to try to beat your personal best and express yourself, because no matter how much you think you know, you are always coming up with better ways to explain yourself.”

The singer has now worked alongside some of the biggest names in the business, including recent charity single Times Like These, with stars including Dave Grohl and Chris Martin, which she helped to mastermind, and a hit collaboration with Calvin Harris, One Kiss.

She says: “Now I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I’ve always wanted to do music and it almost felt like my life depended on it.

“I wanted to do it so badly it was like, ‘I have to make this work’.

“Obviously there were times when the ball game was so big and you have to stand out in your own way. Those times were hard, but it worked out.”

The star has spent lockdown with boyfriend Anwar HadidCredit: Getty Images – Getty

The past two years have seen Dua break through from respected pop newcomer to mainstream star, dominating radio play and travelling the world — joking that last year she spent only 22 nights in her own bed in London due to her non-stop promotion schedule.

She has since bagged a string of awards, including three Brits and two Grammys.

She tells Chelcee Grimes’s What We Coulda Been podcast: “I definitely felt the pressure with the first record and felt like I needed to prove myself and to be like, ‘I write and these are my stories and this is what I want to say’.

“I was still thinking, ‘Can I do this?’ when I got up on stage at Glastonbury in 2017.

Dua worked with stars including Dave Grohl in recent charity single Times Like These

Dua celebrated album Future Nostalgia hitting No1 last month with a ‘couple of bottles of wine’ as she FaceTimed her friendsCredit: Nicole Nodland

“My album had just come out and moments before I went on stage I looked out and there weren’t many people and I was like, ‘S***, maybe no one is going to show up’.

“Then the moment I went on stage, it was completely full and it was raining and people were still outside waiting and watching me, and I was like, ‘Maybe this could happen’!”

Dua says she celebrated her second album Future Nostalgia hitting No1 last month with a “couple of bottles of wine” as she FaceTimed her friends.

And she reveals she got so nervous when interviewed with Dave Grohl about their recent Radio 1 Live Lounge performance that she “buckled” and couldn’t get her words out.

As for lockdown, which she has spent with boyfriend Anwar Hadid, she says: “I’m good. I’ve been working remotely as much as I can.

“It’s been weird to be in London for such a long time. I don’t think I’ve spent this much time here for five or six years.

“When I counted in 2018 how many days I slept in my bed in London, it was 22, and that was on and off for the whole year. I have definitely beaten that record already in 2020.

“I’m learning to enjoy this stillness. Everything has been so go, go, go.

Dua got a tattoo saying ‘Patience’ to urge herself to keep sight of her goals

The singer, pictured as a child, says she ‘always wanted to do music’Credit: Instagram

“I am learning to be more patient, I’m learning that nothing is as urgent as it has seemed for the past few years.

“I am learning that I can do more stuff at home. I do really miss travelling and being on the road, and doing TV performances from home has been a challenge.

“I was on a Zoom call talking about the Stay Home Live Lounge cover and Dave Grohl was on the line and I literally buckled after he spoke.

“They were like, ‘Dave, it’s so amazing, tell us a little bit about your part’.

The singer has bagged a string of awards, including three Brits and two GrammysCredit: PA:Press Association

“He spoke and I could hear his voice, then they were like, ‘Dua, how do you feel?’

“And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah’.

“My parents thought it was a really good interview but sometimes I do buckle — and that was high up there for me.”