She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with her debut single "La solitudine",[1] which became an Italian standard and an international hit.

She mostly performs in Italian and Spanish, but has also recorded and sung songs in Portuguese, English, French, German, Latin, Chinese, Catalan, Neapolitan, Romanian, Romagnol and Sicilian.

[26] After impressing him with a performance of an unreleased Mia Martini song, Pausini obtained her first recording contract, becoming one of the first artists discovered by Giannini, who later launched the careers of several Italian acts, including Irene Grandi.

[29] The album was recorded while Pausini was still a high school student[30] at the "Gaetano Ballardini" Institute of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy,[31] where she got her diploma a few months after the release of her debut studio set.

During the summer of 1994, Pausini took part in the Italian itinerant TV show Festivalbar, reaching the final stage of the music competition[47] and receiving the Premio Europa for her international success.

[57] Moreover, the first four singles from the album, "La soledad", "Se fue", "Amores extraños" and "Gente", entered the top 30 on the Hot Latin Songs chart compiled by Billboard.

[59][62] Pausini's first record for the British market was a self-titled compilation album released in 1995, including nine Italian-language hits and an English-language version of her first single, "La solitudine (Loneliness)",[63] whose lyrics were adapted by Tim Rice.

[72] At the 9th Lo Nuestro Awards for Latin Music, Pausini was nominated for Pop Female Singer and Video of the Year for the Spanish-language version of "Le cose che vivi".

[76] On 1 March 1997, she launched from Geneva the World Wide Tour in support of the album, giving concerts in Italy, Switzerland,[77] Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal,[78] Spain,[79] France,[80] as well as in the United States,[60] Canada and many other American countries, including Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Mexico.

[88] Pavarotti and Pausini duetted in the Italian version of the aria "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz", titled "Tu che m'hai preso il cuor", from Franz Lehár's operetta Das Land des Lächelns.

[30][92] The song was included in the album Tra te e il mare, released on 11 September 2000 and preceded by the homonymous single, written by Italian pop singer Biagio Antonacci.

The first single, "E ritorno da te"—"Volveré junto a ti" in Spanish—was accompanied by a music video shot by Italian film director Gabriele Muccino.

Influenced by international artists including Phil Collins and Celine Dion,[115] the recording is on the subject of a break-up and was written in 2002, during her separation from her ex-boyfriend and producer Alfredo Cerruti.

[118] Well received by music critics,[119][120] the album is mainly focused on themes of anger, bitterness,[116] desire for independence[121] and interior peace,[118] but also features a song about the Iraq War, in which Pausini sings about Ali Ismail Abbas, a boy who was severely injured in a nighttime rocket attack near Baghdad in 2003.

[136] In Summer 2006, Pausini played a Juntos en concierto tour with Marc Anthony and Marco Antonio Solís,[139] consisting of 20 concerts throughout the United States.

[164] The European leg of her tour visited the principle arenas of France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and concluded at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

[165] The album also spawned the singles "Non ho mai smesso"[166] / "Jamás abandoné",[167] "Bastava" / "Bastaba",[168] "Mi tengo", "Le cose che non-mi aspetto" / "Las cosas que no me espero" and "Celeste".

The CD included in the new edition of Inedito also features a live medley performed by Pausini on New Year's Eve 2012, as well as a duet with Venezuelan singer Carlos Baute on the track "Las cosas que no me espero", released as a single in Spain and the Americas.

The new edition includes a duet with Thalía in "Sino a ti", a new version of "Entre tu y mil mares", featuring Melendi, and a re-recording of "Donde quedo solo yo", performed with Álex Ubago.

This version was included in El disc de La Marató 2014, a compilation album related to the telethon organized by Catalan channel TV3, with the purpose of raising money against cardiovascular diseases.

[194] In September of the same year, Pausini, together with singers Alejandro Sanz and Ricky Martin, was a judge in the Univision talent show La banda, created by Simon Cowell.

[210][211] In spring 2018, Pausini also appeared as a judge on the third series of Spanish talent show Factor X,[212] which was won by Pol Granch, one of the contestants she mentored as part of the Boys category.

[217] In February 2020, while appearing as a guest in the 70th Sanremo Music Festival, she also announced a one-night-only concert in the RCF Campovolo in Reggio Emilia, along with six other Italian female artists—Elisa, Fiorella Mannoia, Alessandra Amoroso, Emma, Gianna Nannini, and Giorgia—to help women suffering from domestic violence.

[218] In October 2020, Pausini released "Io sì (Seen)", which was written in collaboration with Diane Warren and Niccolò Agliardi and was created for the Netflix feature film The Life Ahead.

[223][225] After performing "Scatola" during the second night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2022, Pausini was announced to be one of the presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which was held in Turin in May, alongside Alessandro Cattelan and Mika.

[226] On 28 October 2022, Pausini was announced to be one of the four presenters of the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, which were held in Las Vegas in November, alongside Anitta, Luis Fonsi and Thalía.

[230] On 28 January 2023, she gave a charity concert at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome, with Giorgia Todrani and Fiorello, an event created by the Bambino Gesù Onlus Foundation with the sponsorship of the Italian National Olympic Committee and the collaboration of Webuild, whose proceeds were donated to support the campaign (Mi prendo cura di te) I take care of you, for the creation of the Pediatric Palliative Care Center of the Bambino Gesù Hospital.

[245] Starting from her 1998's La mia risposta / Mi respuesta, Italian music critics considered her as a more mature singer[241] and later praised her simplicity[246] and her voice,[247] describing Pausini as an interpreter of her years.

[253] In 2001, David Cazares of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel described Pausini's music as "an assortment of glossy and sentimental pop ballads backed by light rock instrumentation and synthesized strings".

[265] Pausini describes herself as a Catholic woman,[30][266] but expressed doubts about the Church's position on various themes, including contraception, abortion, divorce, premarital sex and gay rights.