If you’ve spent any time at all watching Italian television over the last four decades, you’ve seen her. Or rather, you’ve seen ten different versions of her. Anna Oxa isn't just a singer; she is a cultural disruptor who has spent nearly 50 years treating the Ariston stage like her own personal laboratory.
She's the girl who showed up in 1978 looking like a punk-rock ghost and came back in 1999 wearing a thong. Honestly, nobody does it like Oxa.
Most people know her as the "Chameleon." It’s a bit of a cliché by now, but it fits. While other artists find a "sound" and stick to it until they retire, Oxa seems to get bored with herself every five years. She’s won Sanremo twice, represented Italy at Eurovision, and been a political refugee in the very country where she was born. Her life is a mess of contradictions, high fashion, and raw vocal power that most modern pop stars can’t touch.
The Punk Who Shocked Sanremo
Let’s go back to 1978. Anna Oxa was only 16 years old. Most teenagers are worried about exams; she was busy walking onto the stage of the Sanremo Music Festival with an androgynous, David Bowie-inspired look that made the Italian public do a collective double-take. She sang "Un'emozione da poco," written by Ivano Fossati. It was aggressive, it was new, and she came in second.
Suddenly, she was the biggest thing in the country.
But here’s the thing about Anna: she doesn't stay in one lane. By the early 80s, she ditched the punk aesthetic. She grew her hair out, dyed it blonde, and pivoted toward a more "feminine" pop-rock vibe. Some fans felt betrayed. Others were obsessed. Her 1986 hit "È tutto un attimo" solidified her as a vocal powerhouse. She didn’t just sing notes; she attacked them.
Then came 1989. This was a peak year. She teamed up with Fausto Leali for "Ti lascerò." It was a massive win at Sanremo. They went to Eurovision with "Avrei voluto" and finished 9th. If you listen to those recordings today, the technical skill is just insane. She has this "heart and voice" quality that feels totally unmanufactured.
That 1999 Thong and the Tom Ford Era
If you want to talk about Anna Oxa and not mention the 1999 Sanremo Festival, you’re missing the point. She won for the second time with "Senza pietà," a song that is basically a masterclass in dramatic tension.
But the music almost took a backseat to the outfit.
She walked out in a Gucci-by-Tom-Ford ensemble. We’re talking a black top, low-rise trousers, and a visible thong. In 1999, in Italy, this was basically a national scandal. It was the "wild version" of Oxa—tanned skin, messy hair with highlights, and a level of confidence that bordered on arrogance. She looked like she had just walked off a beach and decided to win a trophy.
The song itself is a powerhouse ballad, but it was the image that stayed burned into the collective memory. She proved that she could play the "pop diva" game better than anyone else, then immediately decided she was bored with that, too.
The Search for the "Sound of the Soul"
In the 2000s, things got... weird. In a good way, depending on who you ask. Anna started leaning heavily into her Albanian roots. She was born Ilirjana Hoxha in Bari. Her father was an Albanian refugee, and because of the laws at the time, she actually lived as a political refugee in Italy until she was an adult.
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This sense of "otherness" started bleeding into her music.
She moved away from the radio-friendly pop and toward world music, spiritual frequencies, and what she calls "vibrations." Her 2001 album L'eterno movimento was a turning point. It was tribal and experimental. She started talking about the "sanctity of sound" and criticizing the music industry for being a "distribution of protocols."
Basically, she stopped trying to be a celebrity and started trying to be an instrument.
Recent Comebacks and Controversy
By the time she returned to Sanremo in 2023 with "Sali (Canto dell'anima)," the media didn't know what to do with her. She refused to do the standard "green carpet" interviews, citing health issues and a fever. The press turned on her. They called her difficult.
But when she stood on that stage with long, gray, disheveled hair, she looked like a high priestess. The song was complex. It wasn't "catchy" in the way TikTok songs are. It was a dense, vocal-heavy piece of art that demanded you pay attention.
She didn't win, but she didn't need to. She was the most-searched female artist on Google in Italy that year. Even in 2026, the ripples of that performance are still felt. People are still debating whether she's a genius or just eccentric.
The Personal Toll of Being Anna Oxa
Her private life hasn't exactly been a quiet stroll in the park. She’s been married several times:
- Franco Ciani: Her first husband and a songwriter who worked with her.
- Gianni Belleno: The drummer for New Trolls. They have two kids together, Francesca and Qazim.
- Behgjet Pacolli: The Kosovar billionaire. This one ended loudly. He later claimed it was her jealousy; she mostly kept her head down and moved on.
Nowadays, she lives a somewhat isolated life in Switzerland. She stays close to nature. She says she’s found a way to live that isn't dictated by "showbiz protocols." It’s a far cry from the glittering Versace gowns of the 80s, but it feels more authentic to who she is now.
Why Anna Oxa Still Matters
It is easy to dismiss a veteran singer as "past their prime," but Oxa refuses to be a nostalgia act. She doesn't tour the cabaret circuit singing her old hits exactly how they sounded in 1984. She rearranges them. She changes the frequencies. She makes them uncomfortable.
The industry hates it because you can't package it easily.
But for fans, Anna Oxa represents a kind of artistic integrity that is dying out. She is a woman who fought for her rights in a male-dominated industry, who survived being a "foreigner" in her own birth country, and who never apologized for changing her mind.
If you want to understand the history of Italian pop music, you have to look at her. You have to look at the punk girl, the blonde diva, the Gucci-clad winner, and the gray-haired mystic. They are all the same person, and they are all equally real.
What to do next if you're diving into the Oxa rabbit hole:
- Listen to the evolution: Start with "Un'emozione da poco" (1978), then "Ti lascerò" (1989), then "Senza pietà" (1999), and finally "Sali" (2023). Notice how her vocal texture changes from a sharp, metallic edge to a deep, resonant vibrato.
- Watch the 1999 performance: Find the video of her winning Sanremo with the Tom Ford look. It’s a masterclass in stage presence.
- Explore the Albanian connection: Look for her live performances where she incorporates traditional Balkan vocal techniques. It explains a lot about the "vibration" philosophy she talks about today.