Beginning her career as a teenager, Oxa debuted in the Sanremo Music Festival 1978 with the song "Un'emozione da poco", placing second in the competition.

In total, Oxa has competed in Sanremo fifteen times across six decades (a record shared with Al Bano, Milva, Peppino di Capri and Toto Cutugno), and additionally hosted the competition in 1994.

Aside from singing, Oxa cohosted Fantastico for two years, was a judge on Amici di Maria De Filippi, and competed in the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars.

Oxa was born on 28 April 1961 in Bari to an Albanian father originally from Krujë, Qazim Hoxha, and an Italian mother, Elena Piccininno.

Sporting an androgynous punk look, Oxa achieved great success in the competition, reaching second place behind only Matia Bazar.

[3] The second single off of Oxanna, "Fatelo con me", also written by Fossati, was selected to compete in the 1978 edition of Festivalbar and became a top twenty hit in Italy.

With them, she released the single "Il pagliaccio azzurro" in 1979, an Italian language cover of the song "Till it Shines" by American musician Bob Seger.

The album peaked within the top ten in Italy, and also included an Italian cover of the song "Because the Night" by Patti Smith.

[5] To promote the album, Oxa ventured into acting and appeared as the lead in the musical film Maschio, femmina, fiore, frutto (1979).

After declining sales and a lack of promotion from her label, Oxa cut ties with RCA Italiana and signed a contract with CBS Records International in 1981.

Oxa's participation saw a great stylistic change in her image; she no longer sported her androgynous punk look that she had become known for, and instead grew her hair long and dyed it blonde, adopting a sexier appearance that went on to define her career for the following decades.

[7][8] Oxa entered the Sanremo Music Festival 1989 as a duet with Italian singer Fausto Leali, performing the song "Ti lascerò".

[15] Her first greatest hits album Storie – I miei più grandi successi (1997) was later released the following year, including songs from both her CBS International and Columbia contracts.

"Senza pietà" went on to be a top ten hit in Italy, and served as the lead single to Oxa's album of the same name, which peaked at number-three.

[20] That year, Oxa appeared as a co-presenter on the second season of the Italian variety show Torno sabato (2000–04) with Giorgio Panariello.

[24][25] In 2013, Oxa was invited by Milly Carlucci to compete in series nine of Ballando con le Stelle, the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars.