Anfield Under the Spotlights: The Stadium Became a Concert Venue for Two Nights
At the beginning of June the legendary Anfield arena briefly traded its pitch markings for stage scenery: Dua Lipa played two consecutive sold-out shows here. All 120 thousand tickets were snapped up instantly, and many of the lucky fans came not only for the pop diva but for the feeling that One Kiss would once again echo through the heart of Merseyside football as loudly as after the team’s latest victory. In what other corner of the world can supporters celebrate music and relive all the trophy emotions of recent years at the same time?
Getting to Know the Hit: The Moment That Divided Liverpool Fan Songs Into Before and After
It is hard to believe the anthem is barely six years old: today it feels as if One Kiss has always rung out at Anfield. In fact, the love affair began in May 2018 at the Champions League final in Kyiv. Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool lost to Real Madrid after Mohamed Salah’s injury and two costly mistakes by Loris Karius. Yet just minutes before kick-off the young singer of Albanian descent delivered a bright mini-set featuring “No Lie” and the brand-new chart-smashing single One Kiss.
The paradox is striking: the match ended in defeat, but for thousands of supporters it was one of the most vibrant European away days in years. Opening-ceremony songs are usually forgotten by half-time, yet Lipa’s performance lodged itself firmly in the collective memory of the Reds’ faithful.
Kyiv Sparks, Madrid Fire: How Defeat Laid the Foundation for a Future Tradition
In 2019, ahead of the Madrid final against Tottenham, fan zones in the Spanish capital had not yet fully embraced One Kiss—the track was only just spreading through the terraces. Exactly a year later, however, when Liverpool finally clinched their long-awaited Premier League crown, the song erupted at full volume: first as the soundtrack to the title-sealing match, and then as the musical signature of the official trophy ceremony at Anfield.
The stadium, the players, and club staff fused into a single choir, and that familiar refrain seemed to say, “One perfectly placed strike is enough to fall in love with this moment forever.” Thus the football metaphor of a decisive “kiss” in the back of the net became the everyday motif of victory celebrations.
The 2022 Season: From a Random Playlist Addition to the Official Double Soundtrack
One Kiss truly earned anthem status in the 2021/22 campaign. Liverpool lifted both the League Cup and the FA Cup and came within a whisker of an historic quadruple. In the streets of Paris before the Champions League final, thousands of voices—accompanied by makeshift drums and beer-cup shakers—sang along with Dua Lipa.
The viral clip of the fan in a cowboy hat on Wembley’s seats, conducting the crowd during the penalty shoot-out, swept across social media. After his winning kick Kostas Tsimikas admitted, “This song makes us celebrate even harder. I jumped on Adrian’s back—it was total madness!”
A Hit From Outside Football: Lipa Supports Arsenal but Appreciates the Merseysiders
Curiously, the voice behind the “anthem of joy” is not a Reds supporter at all. Since childhood Dua Lipa has followed Arsenal under the influence of her father and brother; she even visited the Emirates in April for the Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Even so, the singer has repeatedly said that Anfield’s response holds a special place in her heart. In a 2020 interview with the club website she recalled the 2018 final: “Seeing the video of fans singing One Kiss still gives me goose bumps,” she said.
The British tabloids tried to link her with Trent Alexander-Arnold, but the defender quipped to his mother, “Mum, I’m at home every night—you’d definitely notice if I were dating someone, especially Dua Lipa.”
Sound Engineer of Championship Parades: Calvin Harris Is Another Red in the Song’s Story
The beat behind One Kiss was written by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, a long-time Liverpool supporter. He handled the music at open-top-bus parades in 2022 and 2025.
The idea surfaced in the winter of 2020 when Andy Robertson called Harris: “We’re fifteen points clear; if we win the league, we need a DJ set!” The parade was cancelled by the pandemic, but two years later the plan came true with double the energy. Harris set up his deck on the top tier of the bus, and One Kiss blasted out every few blocks along the Liverpool streets.
In 2025 the invitation came from captain Virgil van Dijk: “You’re in charge of the music—non-negotiable.” The DJ just smiled: “There could be no other way; it’ll be the loudest gig of my life!” The track added another loop to its popularity and secured a place in local folklore.
Five Playbacks in One Year: How 2025 Made One Kiss the Official Title Soundtrack
This season the song has racked up a unique tally:
- It was played right after the decisive win over Tottenham that effectively sealed the championship;
- It served as the centrepiece of the trophy presentation at Anfield;
- It accompanied the open-top-bus parade featuring Calvin Harris;
- And it lit up the stadium twice more during Dua Lipa’s pair of packed solo concerts.
No other single in modern club history has been so closely tied to the team’s achievements within a single calendar year.
One Kiss vs You’ll Never Walk Alone: A Hymn of Hope and a Song of Celebration
The classic “You’ll Never Walk Alone” remains an emotional manifesto of belief and support—sung in moments of despair as well as in the greatest triumphs. In contrast, One Kiss has become a light-hearted antiphon: if YNWA is about walking through the storm, Dua Lipa’s hit is about the dance, the spotlight, and the sweet taste of well-earned joy that follows.
Fans joke that the club now has two official modes: “support” and “party.” The first is activated before the kick-off, the second the instant the final whistle blows and the scoreboard shines red.
Why This Song? The Power of Simple Mood
At first glance the composition seems far from football: a light club beat, female vocals, no traditional battle-cry lyrics. That is precisely the secret: the track does not claim to be a martial march; it creates an atmosphere of carefree triumph where you can sing, hug, and blow air-kisses toward the trophy all at once.
Musicologists note the catchy bass line and the pun-filled chorus that any terrace can instantly copy. Psychologists add that the brain responds immediately to four-bar repetitions, enabling a vast crowd to sing together even when hearing the tune for the first time. Football, of course, loves collective rituals.
The Song Keeps Traveling: What’s Next?
After the June concerts at Anfield, the track entered a new phase of its career. A video of 60 thousand spectators singing in unison with Dua spread across social media and made news broadcasts on both sides of the Atlantic. It would not be surprising if away fans in Birmingham or Newcastle start their own improvised karaoke versions this autumn.
Extra impetus comes from Calvin Harris’s promise of a Liverpool-dedicated remix. If it drops before the new season kicks off, One Kiss could become not only the club’s musical calling card but also an unofficial anthem for the city itself.
In Lieu of a Conclusion: A Kiss That Remains
It is hard to predict how long the One Kiss era will last on Merseyside terraces. Ten years from now it might give way to another hit, or it might settle permanently alongside “Seven Nation Army” and “Sweet Caroline.” One thing is certain: few songs can ring out with equal power from a championship bus DJ deck, stadium loudspeakers, and the vocal cords of tens of thousands of supporters who truly need “just one kiss” to fall in love with their club again and again.
