Dua Lipa’s 2025 Australian Tour Cover Songs: The Complete List
Dua Lipa has officially wrapped up the Australian leg of her sell-out Radical Optimism world tour, playing eight packed arena shows across Sydney and Melbourne. At the first night of the tour, however, Lipa and her band revealed a big surprise: They would be covering a different Australian artist every single night. With the final night of the tour (March 29th) in the books, here is a list of all eight songs Lipa covered across the run – along with fan-shot footage of each performance.
Melbourne, Night 1 (March 17th): AC/DC – ‘Highway To Hell’
As previously reported on Music Feeds, Lipa kicked off the cover segment with a bang – ripping into the 1979 Acca Dacca classic in a complete surprise package. Introducing it, Lipa said she planned to do a new song every night of the Radical Optimism tour as a “fun, crazy idea”. “I thought, ‘let’s do a local artist in every place we’re in’,” she said. “Obviously, Australia has an abundance of amazing musicians. So, we just thought we’d go really, really big. If you know it, sing along.”
Melbourne, Night 2 (March 19th): Natalie Imbruglia – ‘Torn’
Yes, for the Setlist.FM pedants out there – this is technically a cover of American rock band Ednaswap, who originally recorded the song several years before the best-known version by Imbruglia arrived in 1997 and brought the song to international acclaim. However, it’s a song extremely near and dear to the hearts of Australian music fans – and it’s remained an intergenerational karaoke classic for a quarter-century now, so let us have it.
Melbourne, Night 3 (March 20th): Kylie – ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’
“There are some songs that don’t need much of an introduction,” said Lipa moments before breaking into an arena-sized “la-la-la”. She’s not wrong: Kylie’s 2001 hit remains in the upper echelon of her 35-plus year career, and Lipa lit up Rod Laver Arena with it the exact same way Kylie did in the same room just one month ago. The bond between the two artists is strong: They collaborated on the remix of Minogue’s 2020 track ‘Real Groove’, and Lipa has referred to Our Kylie as “the queen”. Rightfully so, it should be added.
Melbourne, Night 4 (March 22nd): Troye Sivan – ‘Rush’
Night four saw Lipa up the ante even further with her cover selection: Not only was ‘Rush’ the most recent Australian song to be covered, it was also the first cover of the run where Lipa brought out the artist in question. “I thought it would be a big mistake if I didn’t play one of my favourite artists ever, who’s also a friend of mine,” she said while introducing the song. “This is a Saturday night banger!” Sivan himself appearing on the ramp moments later generated the kind of high-pitched squeals only certain dogs can hear. The love-in between the two popstars continued on Friday (March 28th), with Lipa sharing a new version of her hit ‘Physical’ with guest vocals from Sivan to commemorate the five-year anniversary of her multi-platinum chart-topping 2020 album Future Nostalgia. Slay.
Melbourne, Night 5 (March 23rd): Vance Joy – ‘Riptide’
From a Saturday night banger to a Sunday night campfire sing-along, Lipa enlisted the help of hometown boy Vance Joy and his trusty ukulele to bust out the 2013 Hottest 100 winner ‘Riptide’. Joy, for his part, said it was an “absolute pleasure” to perform alongside Lipa on her final night in town. “What a legend,” he wrote. “Left us awe struck and feeling the energy she was putting out. Super grateful and high from this one. Thank you, Dua.”
Sydney, Night 1 (March 26th): INXS – ‘Never Tear Us Apart’
Lipa and co. decamped from Melbourne to Sydney on Wednesday night, and got into the spirit of things with a show-stopping rendition of the classic ballad ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ by INXS – who, while originally from Perth, first made their major breakthrough as a band while living in Sydney. It’s her second run-in with the band: Future Nostalgia saw her giving writing credits to Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence after Lipa interpolated the rhythm and melody of their hit ‘Need You Tonight’ for her own multi-platinum single ‘Break My Heart’.
Sydney, Night 2 (March 28th): Tame Impala – ‘Less I Know The Better’
“Tonight, I thought it’d be good if I covered one of my really good friends,” said Lipa while setting the scene for her second night in Sydney. “I made most of Radical Optimism with this person. He’s one of my favourite artists, and he’s inspired me a lot. I’m very lucky that tonight I get to sing one of my favourite songs ever… with one of my favourite artists ever.” And just like that, out wanders Tame Impala’s one guy himself, Mr. Kevin Parker, to duet with his co-writing partner on the song voted by triple j listeners as the best song of the 2010s: ‘The Less I Know The Better’ from 2015’s Currents. A great night for Kevin, a great night for Dua, a great night for the fans and another shocker for Trevor.
Sydney, Night 3 (March 29th): Angus & Julia Stone – ‘Big Jet Plane’
Lipa’s final cover of the run saw the whole thing out on a gentle, pleasant note – once again enlisting the help of a former Hottest 100 winner to bring a number-one song to life. Although sister Julia sadly wasn’t there to add her harmonies, big brother Angus – AKA Dope Lemon – was on hand to lead the crowd in an en-masse sing-along. “It felt really perfect to end on this next song,” said Lipa when introducing it. “Seeing as I’ve gotta get on a big jet plane tomorrow!” This marks the second time an international superstar has enlisted Stone to sing his hit at a massive gig – back in 2023, he hopped up at Post Malone‘s Melbourne gig at Marvel Stadium supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers to jam it with him. 15 years on, ‘Big Jet Plane’ still seems to hit different.
Further Reading
Dua Lipa on Kevin Parker “He’s Always Been on My Dream Board of People to Work With”
Kylie Minogue Honoured With Commemorative Star In Melbourne Park
All The Winners At The 2024 ARIA Awards – Troye Sivan And Royel Otis Take Out Top Gongs
