1. Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena was born on 1 November 1967 and is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer.
108 Facts About Tina Arena
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Tina Arena has earned several international and national awards, including a BRIT Award, seven ARIA Awards and two World Music Awards for Best-selling Australian Artist.
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In 2011, Tina Arena became the first Australian to be awarded a knighthood of the French National Order of National Merit, presented by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, for her contributions to French culture, and ceremonially awarded by Frederic Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture and Communication of France.
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In 2015, Tina Arena was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA Hall of Fame.
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In 2016 Tina Arena was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia.
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Tina Arena was born in the Melbourne suburb of Keilor East, to Giuseppe "Joe" Tina Arena and Francesca "Franca" Catalfamo, Sicilian immigrants, in Melbourne on 1 November 1967.
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Tina Arena grew up in Keilor East, Victoria with two sisters, Nancy and Silvana; As a child, she listened to Spanish, Italian and French songs that were in her family's record collection.
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Tina Arena's family call her Pina, which is her shortened first name.
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Tina Arena changed her first name from Filippina to Tina, her stage name becoming Tina Arena, when she appeared as a child performer on the national television talent show Young Talent Time in 1976, at age 8.
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Tina Arena received singing lessons from Voila Ritchie who recommended her to appear on a television talent quest and variety show, Young Talent Time, an Australian weekly television variety program produced by Lewis-Young Productions and screened on Network Ten.
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Tina Arena left the Young Talent Time show in October 1983, ahead of her 16th birthday, due to the Network Ten Young Talent Time series age-limit contract stipulation to give way for younger members.
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Tina Arena performed the songs "The Way We Were" and "MacArthur Park" for her finale set on her farewell Young Talent Time episode.
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Tina Arena completed her Higher School Certificate and was hired as an insurance clerk; however, she resigned after three months to pursue a music career.
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At age 17, Tina Arena signed a record deal with Graffiti Records, which released her debut single, "Turn Up the Beat", in 1985.
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Tina Arena performed solo shows and in bands, including as a member of a nine-piece ensemble, Network.
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Tina Arena went into seclusion while she decided what to do next, moving to Los Angeles to be a nobody again.
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In 1992 Tina Arena sang background vocals on the debut album by Australian singer-songwriter Rick Price, titled Heaven Knows, which was released in July 1992, and she appeared in the 1993 music video by Price for the single "A House Divided".
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At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995, Tina Arena was nominated in six categories and won four trophies: Best Pop Release and Song of the Year for "Chains"; and Album of the Year and Best Female Artist for Don't Ask.
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Tina Arena relocated to Los Angeles in 1996 and 1997, to record her third solo studio album, In Deep, which became her second number-one album in Australia.
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Tina Arena performed at the celebration, along with John Farnham, and featured musical performances by Elaine Paige.
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Sony attempted to "break" Tina Arena into the US market by the release of "If I Was a River", penned by Diane Warren.
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Carr, by now her ex-husband, had claimed in Business Review Weekly that Tina Arena was paid $200,000 per week when she was performing in Notre Dame de Paris.
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Tina Arena sang "The Flame" at the 2000 Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics on 15 September.
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At the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 in October, Tina Arena received an Outstanding Achievement Award.
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Tina Arena co-wrote tracks with Nile Rodgers, Desmond Child, Robbie Nevil, Mark Hudson, Victoria Shaw and Peter-John Vettese.
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Tina Arena was featured on 2, a duets album from Olivia Newton-John for which the pair recorded an uptempo track, "I'll Come Runnin'".
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In March 2002, Tina Arena posed for a semi-nude photo shoot by James Houston for Black+White magazine.
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Tina Arena embarked on an Australian national tour in late 2004 to early 2005, to support the album.
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Tina Arena toured France, including two concerts at the Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris.
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Tina Arena performed her French hits and some of her Australian repertoire.
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Tina Arena returned to the London stage in April 2007, starring as Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago, at the Cambridge Theatre, West End of London.
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Tina Arena said she was "excited, if not a little daunted" about playing the role, which means Tina Arena will have to dust off her dancing shoes for toe-tappers such as Razzle Dazzle and All That Jazz.
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On 27 August 2008, alongside fellow Australian singer and songwriter Darren Hayes, Tina Arena appeared as a guest judge during the London auditions of the sixth season of Australian Idol.
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Tina Arena travelled to South Australia to co-headline with US musician, Chris Isaak, at Barossa Under the Stars, an outdoors concert.
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On 24 July 2011, Tina Arena sang an a cappella performance of Advance Australia Fair on the podium on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees at the Tour de France winner's ceremony after Cadel Evans became the first Australian winner in the tour's history.
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In 2011, Tina Arena was a judge on the French version of The Sing-Off TV singing competition program, alongside two other judges, French singer Michel Jonasz, and French artistic director of radio and television Nathalie Andre.
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In 2011, Tina Arena became the first Australian to be awarded a knighthood of the French National Order of National Merit, presented by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, for her contributions to French culture, and ceremonially awarded by Frederic Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture and Communication of France.
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Tina Arena appeared as a judge on the 2012 version of Young Talent Time in Australia, 29 years after her final regular appearance on the original series.
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Also in October 2013 Tina Arena published her autobiography, Now I Can Dance, written with Jude McGee, to coincide with the release of Reset and is on its 4th reprint.
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Tina Arena performed at the G'Day USA Los Angeles Black Tie Gala on 11 January 2014.
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On 14 March 2014, Tina Arena appeared on Sunrise and performed "You Set Fire to My Life".
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Tina Arena premiered the single by performing on the live television show Dancing with the Stars on 4 September 2015.
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On 25 October 2015, the Australian Recording Industry Association announced that Tina Arena was due to be inducted into their Hall of Fame in the annual awards ceremony in November as a member of the Australian music industry ARIA Hall of Fame.
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Tina Arena looked forward to enjoying the acknowledgment of her peers at the Australian music industry's gala celebration on 26 November 2015.
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Tina Arena was quick to point out that receiving the honour doesn't mean she was entering the twilight of her career.
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On 26 November 2015, Tina Arena was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame at the 2015 ARIA Awards ceremony.
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On 27 September 2016, Tina Arena performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, Greece, as a special guest of Greek singer George Perris.
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In early May 2017, Tina Arena released her first fragrance, after working three years on the project, called Renaissance developed with Bertrand Duchaufour, one of the world's leading perfumers in Paris.
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In June 2017, Tina Arena featured as the portraiture guest on the Australian TV series Anh Do's Brush with Fame aired on ABC.
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Tina Arena shared journey from child star to international artist the challenges and sacrifices that have shaped her.
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Tina Arena was three-times a finalist in the annual Archibald Prize art award.
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In September 2017, Tina Arena featured as a keynote speaker at the Australian BIGSOUND Musical Conference.
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Tina Arena has stated that when she records in the French language, she is careful not to record French versions of her English-language hits, as lyric meanings in French and English differ.
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On 17 November 2017, Tina Arena released on digital preview platforms a new song recording, "Tant que tu es la", as the lead single for Quand tout Recommence.
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Tina Arena is motivated by the desire to reconnect with the success of her French Pop hits, "Go higher" and "Love to the impossible".
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On her 2018 Quand tout Recommence album, Tina Arena offers ten new songs recorded in the language of Moliere, L'ombre de ma voix.
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Tina Arena concludes, ""I miss the connection with the French public.
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On 16 February 2018, Tina Arena released on digital preview platforms the next single, L'ombre de ma voix, from her new album Quand tout Recommence.
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Clearly, Tina Arena has always got to work, sung her heart out and in again, and she keeps working.
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In January 2018, Tina Arena performed as part of the live-music program at the Australian Open 2018 Grand Slam tennis tournament at Melbourne Park.
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In February 2018, Tina Arena featured as the portrait guest in an episode of the Australian TV series Anh Do's Brush with Fame with comedian and artist Anh Do, on the ABC network.
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Tina Arena shared her journey from child star to international artist, reflecting on the challenges and sacrifices that have shaped her.
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In May 2019, Tina Arena was awarded the perennial Excellence in Community Award by the Australian Music in the House organisation.
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In June 2019, Tina Arena was nominated in the category of Best Female Actor in a Musical at the annual Helpmann Awards for her lead role performance as Eva Peron in Evita.
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Tina Arena was nominated alongside Luisa Scrofani, Natalie Abbott and Ursula Yovich.
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On 6 September 2019, Tina 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.
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Tina Arena performed at the Sydney Coliseum Opening Week opening program in December 2019.
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In December 2019, Tina Arena performed at the Good Things music festival.
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Tina Arena will join the festival line-up as a cameo guest artist, along with Lisa and Jessica Origliasso of the Veronicas.
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Tina Arena filmed a supporting role, as Rosalba, in the Australian film Promised, directed and co-produced by Nick Conidi.
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In 2023, Tina Arena appeared as Plante Carnivore on Mask Singer, the French version of The Masked Singer.
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On 21 August 2017, Opera Australia announced that Tina Arena would be taking on the lead role of Eva Peron in the 2018 Australian touring production of Evita.
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Tina Arena said that she was "terrified", but described the role as "a precious gift for myself and for any female performer".
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Tina Arena said that she felt "blessed to work with someone who has had the kind of career that Hal Prince has had".
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In taking on the titular role of Eva Peron in Evita for Opera Australia, Tina Arena commented to the ABC's Limelight magazine that she was "terrified", but described the role as "a precious gift for myself and for any female performer".
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Tina Arena said that she felt "blessed to work with someone who has had the kind of career that Hal Prince has had".
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Tina Arena talked of knowing about Peron since she was a girl and about feeling privileged to recount the story and embrace the complex role.
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Tina Arena received a prolonged standing ovation for the portrayal as Eva Peron.
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Tina Arena is particularly close to our hearts as one of the 'Patrons of the Australian Music Vault' at Arts Centre Melbourne.
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Tina Arena is particularly close to our hearts as one of the Patrons of the Australian Music Vault at Arts Centre Melbourne.
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In June 2019, Tina Arena was nominated in the category of Best Female Actor in a Musical at the annual Helpmann Awards for her role as Eva Peron in Evita.
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Tina Arena was nominated alongside Luisa Scrofani, Natalie Abbott, and Ursula Yovich.
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Tina Arena is multilingual: she speaks and sings in English, Italian and French; and sings in Spanish.
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Tina Arena's voice is smooth, rich and streaming with emotion.
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Tina Arena is technically and emotionally perfect, but somehow always has enough of a sniff of imperfection and rawness to make you not only believe every word, but be hanging off them too.
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Tina Arena could sing the balls off anyone, and she's miniature.
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Tina Arena sells the lyrics with her big voice but never over-sings.
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Tina Arena has stated that she does not record French versions of her English-language popular hits, because too often the intention of the song gets "lost in translation"; therefore, she has always chosen to write in both languages.
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Tina Arena has noted that in a non-musical perspective, Princess Diana inspired her and called her "a great role model for women".
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Tina Arena's tracks have been covered by country music artists, including Wynonna Judd, Jo Dee Messina, Pam Tillis, Terri Clark, Kellie Coffey, Kathie Baillie and LeAnn Rimes.
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In 2015, Tina Arena was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA Hall of Fame at the 2015 ARIA Awards ceremony.
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In December 2020, Tina Arena was listed at number 30 in Rolling Stone Australias "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.
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In December 1995, Tina Arena married her then-manager, Ralph Carr, who had been her manager since 1992.
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In 2000, Tina Arena met the French artist Vincent Mancini with whom she has a son, Gabriel Joseph Mancini, born in 2005.
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Tina Arena has been a supporter of female artists in the music industry, particularly celebrating the long-term careers of mature women artists.
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In December 2016, in the Rolling Stone video series Her Sound, Her Story: Tina Arena, she discusses how the music industry squanders women as both they and their careers mature.
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In September 2021, Tina Arena appeared on Australian daytime television program Studio 10 to highlight the disparity between the art community and sporting events in relation to COVID-19.
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Tina Arena cited as her reasons in the interview the double standards in how the arts and sports are treated, as large scale music events are cancelled "but never the footy match" and her belief that no one wants to help out the artistic community after "the artistic community has done what they needed to do and always rolled up our sleeves".
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In 2017, Tina Arena updated her memoir with the release of a new edition of Now I Can Dance with new content covering her relocation from France back to Australia, being inducted into the 2015 ARIA Hall of Fame, the release of new music, and new musical ventures.
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Tina Arena has used her fame to help several causes and is a patron to two charities in Australia: child protection organisation Barnardos and Soldier On which supports rehabilitation for veterans.
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Tina Arena was a participant, with partner Damian Whitewood, in the 13th Australian season of Dancing with the Stars which commenced in September 2013 and nominated Barnardos Australia as her charity; the pair finished in third place.
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Tina Arena took part in Australia's biggest TV charity appeal, Telethon, in Perth on 20 October 2013.
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Tina Arena has performed at several benefit concerts, including Live 8 in Paris and for Queensland Flood Relief in 2013.
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In November 2014, Tina Arena released a cover version of 10cc's 1976 song The Things We Do For Love, with funds raised going towards the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
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In May 2019, Tina Arena was awarded the perennial Excellence in Community Award by the Australian Music in the House Organisation.
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List of some notable TV appearances Tina Arena has made over the years.
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Tina Arena has won several awards, including seven ARIA Awards and the World Music Award for best-selling Australian artist, which she received in both 1996 and 2000.
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Tina Arena is the first Australian to have received that order of state.