The 100 Most Influential People in the World - Artists

Dua Lipa James McBride Da'Vine Joy Randolph Alex Edelman Dev Patel Lauren Groff Alia Bhatt Jeffrey Wright 21 Savage Jenny Holzer + more

- ERIN MCMULLEN, PATTI SMITH, ETHAN HAWKE, UZO ADUBA,PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE, TARAJI P. HENSON

Dua Lipa

She moves with a lightness in a heavy world—bold, playful, and self-aware.

She is thoughtfully outspoken for the oppressed and displaced. She founded an infl uential editorial platform, Service95, to cover cultural topics and address humanitarian concerns. She believes in family, is grateful to her parents and supportive of her siblings.

She left home at 15 to propel her musical dreams into action. She is driven, independent, and possesses a desire for knowledge. She appeals to future artists to be mindful of the world around them.

She is herself, striving to redefi ne the pop-genre cosmos. She is Dua Lipa. Dua—Albanian for love.

She introduced her song “Houdini” with an image of a small key on the tip of her tongue. One can easily imagine her holding a ring of such keys, the master of her ever evolving kingdom.

Smith is a singer, songwriter, and author

James McBride

Defying gravity

As a kid, you dream about meeting a great novelist. You imagine them as kind, noble, wise, omniscient. When I met James McBride, I felt like I'd had coffee with a hysterically funny 21st century Leo Tolstoy.