[13]: 7 [14] Arena grew up in Keilor East, Victoria with two sisters, Nancy and Silvana;[15] As a child, she listened to Spanish, Italian and French songs that were in her family's record collection.

[24] As a core member of the Young Talent Team performing live on Australian national television each week, Arena sang cover versions of popular music tracks.

[26] In September 1982, she became a "coach" for new team members, Danielle Minogue and Mark McCormack; Arena told The Australian Women's Weekly's Debbie Byrne that "They seem to be settling down a lot quicker than I did.

[34] McFarlane described it as "uptempo" with the associated music video "projecting a raunchy disco-diva persona ... flaunting a pouting rock starlet with bouncing cleavage and attitude to burn.

[23][34][35] For the Australian version of the album Arena co-wrote eleven of its twelve tracks—her fellow writers include Mick Jones (of Foreigner), David Tyson, Christopher Ward, Dean McTaggart, Pam Reswick and Steve Werfel.

[51] William Ruhlmann of AllMusic found the US version of the album showed that "Her own songs, co-written with a team of others, are perfectly good contemporary pop/rock, and she sings them with passionate commitment" and it was "brimming with potential hit singles (it spawned three in Australia).

[54] Arena's duet with US artist, Marc Anthony, "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You", from the feature film soundtrack for The Mask of Zorro (July 1998), gained her European chart success.

[48][55] She co-wrote tracks with Nile Rodgers (Madonna, Diana Ross), Desmond Child (Ricky Martin, Aerosmith), Robbie Nevil (Earth, Wind & Fire), Mark Hudson (Eric Clapton, Cher), Victoria Shaw and Peter-John Vettese (Dido, Paul McCartney).

In March 2009, Arena toured Australia and appeared as a guest performer at the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras party singing a medley of "Aimer jusqu'à l'impossible" and "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", accompanied by Alison Jiear on the latter.

One of these was a solo show backed by the Queensland Youth Orchestra performing her own hits and covers; and the other was with local artists, Christine Anu, Anthony Callea, Rick Price and Katie Noonan paying tribute to the Bee Gees.

[112][113] Its lead single, "You Set Fire to My Life" (September), included both studio and acoustic versions; as well as three official remixes by Cosmic Dawn, The Slips and 7th Heaven—it reached the ARIA top 40.

[118] Also in March, Arena appeared on So You Think You Can Dance Australia to perform her single, "Reset All" (December 2013), which was accompanied by a routine from two previous winners of the series, Jack Chambers and Talia Fowler.

[128][129] On 9 December 2016, Arena, in her capacity as the official ambassador, launched the 'Versailles: Treasures From The Palace' exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), located in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.

[144] On 17 November 2017, Arena released on digital preview platforms a new song recording, "Tant que tu es là" (translates as "As long as you're around"), as the lead single for Quand tout Recommence.

On her 2018 Quand tout Recommence album, Arena offers ten new songs recorded in the language of Molière, L'ombre de ma voix (Translates to: The Shadow of My Voice").

The federal arts minister, Mitch Fifield, released a statement that Arena will be a welcome influence, "The high-profile singer-songwriter, musician and musical theatre actor brings significant experience as an artist to the board.

[154] On 6 September 2019, Arena appeared as a guest performer and speaker with indigenous Australian artist Deborah Cheetham, a soprano, actor, composer and playwright, at the 2019 Melbourne Writers Festival.

[169][170] On 7 May 2018, Opera Australia's artistic director, Lyndon Terracini, along with producers John Frost and David Ian, announced the full cast for the upcoming Australian production of Evita.

Michael Falzon (We Will Rock You, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess) will portray tango singer Agustín Magaldi, while the role of Perón's Mistress will be played by Alexis van Maanen.

[170][171][172] On 21 July 2018, Terracini, along with producers John Frost and David Ian, announced the 18 young performers who have been cast in the upcoming production of Evita, in season at the Sydney Opera House from September 2018.

She doesn't have the heavy belt of a LuPone, but she's got a deliciously sultry low register and she handles the lighter high notes with confidence, letting rip when it's called for—her rallying oration in 'A New Argentina', buoyed by the chorus, is a rousing finale to the show's first act.

You also get a woman at the height of her musical powers in the show-stopper scene as Tina Arena, in the title role, steps regally along the presidential balcony to deliver with melting clarity and conviction the anthemic 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina'.

The review, "Tina Arena is Resplendent and Tough as Designer Dictator", stated that "In Opera Australia's production, Eva Perón wins over a nation with a Christian Dior dress and steely determination, and a killer ballad steals the show.

The score stands the test of time too, Under director Harold Prince's deft hands, the song, 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina', shows its true colours: it is designed as a master class in political manipulation.

"[190] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's monthly classical music and arts magazine, Limelight, commented that, "Tina Arena is a performer with a supreme voice, boundless range and energy, and charm to spare.

"[193] Spiritworks Australia says, "Whether she's singing spine-tingling renditions of contemporary classics by Lulu, Dusty Springfield or Blondie or her self-penned hits Sorrento Moon, Chains or Burn, Tina Arena is acclaimed as one of the world's most versatile and magnificent vocal interpreters.

"[194] The Queensland Music Festival team says, "Tina sparkles with vivacity and class, possessing an outstanding vocal range and a voice that belies her petite stature—endlessly powerful and always resonant with heart and honesty.

[224] In March 2018, in support of the Time's Up and #MeToo campaigns, Arena authored an op-ed article titled "The music industry must join us with #thetimeisNOW", published by News Corp Australia.

The text is billed by HarperCollins as "Honest and intimate, funny and frank, Now I Can Dance is the long-awaited memoir from the very special, much-loved singer, songwriter and pop diva, Tina Arena.

The artist who gave us "Chains", "Sorrento Moon" and "Symphony of Life" has sold eight million albums, won a swag of awards, encountered extraordinary people, fallen in and out of love, and experienced incredible highs and lows.