Born Larisa Roxana Giurgiu on 5 January 2000 in
Cluj-Napoca, Roxen discovered a passion for music at the age of seven and took singing and piano lessons.[1][2][3] Signed by
Global Records,[4] the singer was featured on Romanian producer
Sickotoy's "
You Don't Love Me" in August 2019.[5] The song attained commercial success in Romania, reaching number three on the country's
Airplay 100 chart,[6] and being playlisted by radio stations in several territories including France, the United States, Russia and Spain.[1] Roxen's debut solo single "
Ce-ți cântă dragostea" released later that year in November peaked at number one in Romania.[6]Music critics have since regarded Roxen's primary genre as being
deep house,[1] and compared the singer's music style and appearance to that of
Dua Lipa and
Billie Eilish.[7] In a București FM interview, Roxen cited
Beyoncé as a major inspiration.[8]
2020–present: Eurovision and continued success
In early February 2020, it was reported that Roxen was one of three artists shortlisted to
represent Romania at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2020; broadcaster
Romanian Television (TVR) had collaborated with Global Records for the selection.[9][10] On 11 February, the singer was revealed by TVR as the Romanian representative.[11] The five songs for Selecția Națională—"
Alcohol You", "Beautiful Disaster", "Cherry Red", "Colors" and "Storm"—were released on 21 February.[12] "Alcohol You" emerged as the winner of the national final on 1 March.[13] However, on 18 March, the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the
pandemic of the
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[14] Although TVR had considered retaining "Alcohol You" as a song for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2021,[15] EBU soon after announced that intended 2020 entries were not eligible for the following year.[16] Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for the 2021 contest.[17]
In June 2020, the singer was hired as the brand ambassador for Romanian box-dye hair color product Loncolor Expert HEMPstyle, appearing on product packagings and in a commercial which prominently featured the Selecția Națională entry "Storm".[18] Starting with the release of "How to Break a Heart" in July, Roxen had been benefiting from a promotional campaign for which Global Records partnered with
Warner Music.[19] In October, Roxen scored a second number-one single on the Airplay 100 with "Spune-mi".[6] "
Amnesia", Roxen's Eurovision 2021 entry, was selected by an internal jury panel and released on 4 March.[20][21] It was performed in the first semi-final of the contest on 18 May 2021, but failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 12th place with 85 points.[22][23] By January 2022, Roxen's collaboration with DMNDS and Strange Fruits Music on "Money Money" (2021) had reached the top ten on music charts in the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russia.[24][25] "Dincolo de Marte" (2021), a collaboration with
Randi, was also successful, peaking at number two in Romania in April 2022.[6] "UFO", the song that was placed behind "Amnesia" to represent Romania at Eurovision,[26] was also a number-two hit in Poland and attained a
gold certification from the
Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) in the country.[27][28]
Personal life
At the age of 14, Roxen was diagnosed with
lyme disease.[29] Roxen is vegetarian.[30] As of June 2020, the singer resides in
Bucharest. At the beginning of the same month, Roxen was allegedly emotionally abused and
blackmailed by an ex-boyfriend and obtained a
restraining order against him after having made a complaint to the local police.[31] In July 2021, the singer
came out as
non-binary in a
TikTok video,[32] and eventually clarified that they identify with all pronouns.[33] Roxen furthermore stated: "Since I was little, I feel like a boy in a girl's body. In my previous life I was really a boy".[34]
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications
^
abcScutaru, Cristina (3 February 2020).
"Roxen cucerește topurile muzicale!" [Roxen attains success on music charts!] (in Romanian). DC News.
Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^Gondor, Andreea (20 October 2019).
"O noua editie a Festivalului "Armonii muzicale"" [A new edition of the "Musical Harmonies" festival] (in Romanian). Zi de zi.
Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
For "Spune-mi": Arvunescu, Victor (26 October 2020).
"Top Airplay 100 – Spune-mi că Roxen e pe primul loc!" [Top Airplay 100 – Tell me Roxen is on the top!] (in Romanian). Un site de muzică.
Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
For "Dincolo de Marte":
"Top 10 din 100 cele mai difuzate piese pentru saptamana 17" [Top 10 out of the 100 most-broadcast songs for the week 17] (in Romanian). Uniunea Producătorilor de Fonograme din România. 26 April 2022.
Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
^"Roxen ne spune povestea vieții ei" [Roxen tells us the story of her life]. Unica (in Romanian). 7 January 2020.
Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^"Roxen – Inimă nu fi de piatră". YouTube. 19 July 2021.
Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021. Note: Open the description for credits.
^
ab"Roxen – Fool | Oficial Video". YouTube. 2 September 2022.
Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022. Note: Open the description for credits.