Dua Lipa sparks concern with vocal ‘struggle’ as Cher, 78, dominates duet

Dua Lipa and Cher opened this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony with a rendition of the 78-year-old’s 1998 hit Believe, but fans weren’t impressed with the former’s performance.

The Training Season hitmaker, 29, began on stage by herself, wearing an incredible floating, leather cutout dress, before Cher joined her in an equally badass leather dress with thigh-high boots.

The pair held hands and sang, but fans couldn’t get past Dua’s vocal performance, as many noted she was ‘struggling’ with the tone of the track, which didn’t appear to suit her voice.

‘Awful. What happened,’ wrote thehappyhumancollective underneath an Instagram video, as dans_gram_ added: ‘I love Dua and she can sing but her voice just doesn’t suit this song.’

‘Dua did an amazing job singing a song that is out of her tone,’ said carolmetta, while some were more critical, as katekaput wrote: ‘I like Dua Lipa, but this was… not it.’

‘I Believe that Cher is immortal, she blew Dua Lipa off the stage,’ added @MistressNYC while many said Adam Lambert or Miley Cyrus would have been better suited for the performance.

‘Why is Dua struggling here??’ said @nicknichnic94 while @GenGen15N agreed, adding: ‘Oh, she struggling.’

Some fans were behind Dua though, as jacobschatsmansaid: ‘Y’all ain’t it, I think dua sounds great idc what anyone says I enjoyed it.’

Cher was honoured at the event alongside Ozzy Osbourne, hip hop stars Mary J Blige and Kool & The Gang, rock groups Foreigner and the Dave Matthews Band, Bromley-born guitarist Peter Frampton and soul singer Dionne Warwick.

Ozzy accepted his award in what was his second induction and thanked wife Sharon Osbourne for ‘saving’ him and fans for sticking by him.

London-born Dua and Cher opened the show, before Zendaya praised the US singer ahead of her belting out her track If I Could Turn Back Time.

Cher told the audience: ‘My life has just been a rollercoaster, but one thing I’ve never done, I never give up.

‘I’m talking to the women – OK, you guys are on your own – we’ve been down and out, we keep striving and we keep building and we are somebody.’

Taking to social media with pictures from the moment, Dua later wrote on social media: ‘An absolute honour to pay tribute last night to THE ICON & LEGEND @cher as she gets inducted into the @rockhall (about bloody timeeee if you ask me) !!!! grateful beyond words to have shared the stage with @cher and @theroots to sing “Believe” what a dream come true!!! ~PINCH ME PLEASE~.’

Dua’s performance comes after a string of dates, which could explain why her voice felt more strained than usual.

She performed at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Sir Elton John on October 17, and before that enjoyed two shows in Austin for ACL Festival.

Earlier this year Dua blew the Pyramid Stage away at Glastonbury festival in what was an incredible performance from the star, and her first time headlining a festival she’d grown up going to.

During the performance, Dua admitted that she has a habit when writing songs of imagining if they would be worthy of a Glastonbury headline slot.

‘I’ve written this moment down and wished for it and dreamt it and worked so hard,’ she told the crowd on the Friday night.

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