Larisa Roxana Giurgiu (; born 5 January 2000), known professionally as Roxen (), is a Romanian singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence in 2019 after featuring on Romanian producer Sickotoy's single "You Don't Love Me", which reached number three on Romania's Airplay 100 chart and received radio airplay in several other countries. Her subsequent singles "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" and "Spune-mi" both reached number one in Romania.
Roxen was selected to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with "Alcohol You", but the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was subsequently internally selected to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with "Amnesia", finishing 12th in the first semi-final and failing to qualify for the final.
Early life Larisa Roxana Giurgiu was born on 5 January 2000 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She first performed on stage at the age of five, when she entered and won a children's talent competition held at a local shopping centre. At the age of seven, she began taking singing and piano lessons and became more extensively involved in music. Between the ages of seven and sixteen, she participated in numerous music competitions and festivals, with her mother regularly enrolling her in such events.
Roxen later stated that she had initially had little interest in singing and was encouraged to pursue music by her parents, particularly her mother. Her father is an instrumentalist, and she has described his side of the family as having a musical background.
Career 2019–2020: Career beginnings and breakthrough After signing with Global Records, Roxen was featured on Romanian producer Sickotoy's "You Don't Love Me" in August 2019. The song attained commercial success in Romania, reaching number three on the country's Airplay 100 chart, and was playlisted by radio stations in several territories, including France, the United States, Russia and Spain. Roxen's debut solo single, "Ce-ți cântă dragostea", was released in November 2019 and peaked at number one in Romania.
In early February 2020, Roxen was reported to be one of three artists shortlisted to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, following a collaboration between broadcaster Romanian Television (TVR) and Global Records for the selection process. She was revealed as Romania's representative by TVR on 11 February.
The five songs competing in Selecția Națională—"Alcohol You", "Beautiful Disaster", "Cherry Red", "Colors" and "Storm"—were released on 21 February. "Alcohol You" was selected as the winning entry on 1 March. However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the cancellation of the contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although TVR considered retaining "Alcohol You" for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, the EBU subsequently announced that the intended 2020 entries would not be eligible for the following year's contest. Roxen was nonetheless internally selected to represent Romania again in 2021.
In June 2020, Roxen became a brand ambassador for Romanian hair-colour product Loncolor Expert HEMPstyle, appearing on the product's packaging and in a commercial that prominently featured "Storm". Beginning with the release of "How to Break a Heart" in July, her music benefited from a promotional campaign resulting from a partnership between Global Records and Warner Music. In October, Roxen scored her second number-one single on the Airplay 100 with "Spune-mi".
2021–2022: Eurovision and commercial success "Amnesia" was selected by an internal jury as Roxen's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 and was released on 4 March. She performed the song in the contest's first semi-final on 18 May, where she finished in 12th place with 85 points and failed to qualify for the final.
Roxen subsequently achieved further commercial success with several collaborations. By January 2022, "Money Money" (2021), a collaboration with DMNDS and Strange Fruits Music, had reached the top ten on music charts in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russia. "Dincolo de Marte" (2021), a collaboration with Randi, peaked at number two in Romania in April 2022. "UFO", which had placed second behind "Amnesia" in the selection of Romania's Eurovision 2021 entry, reached number two on the Polish music charts and received a gold certification from the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
2023–2024: Further releases and Alternative Dreams In 2023, Roxen released several singles, including "Fato", a collaboration with Sapte, "Cenușă" and "Infinit". "Cenușă" was subsequently issued in several alternative and remixed versions.
In April 2024, she released "Sărută-mă", which she wrote herself. Her first extended play, Alternative Dreams, followed on 10 May 2024 through Global Records and Warner Music Poland. The seven-track record features songs in both Romanian and English and explores themes including love, loss and self-discovery. Later that year, Roxen collaborated with David Ciente and Damian Drăghici on "Lasă-mă", and with Liviu Teodorescu on "Nu pleca".
2025: Universal Music and stylistic shift In early 2025, Roxen began a recording partnership with Universal Music Romania. Her first single with the label, "Save You", was released on 7 March. Described as a shift from her previous pop and pop-dance material towards electronic dance music, the song was co-written by Roxen, Andres Kopper and Christina Kerschner. Several remixes and alternative versions followed.
In May, Roxen released "Favourite Type" as her second single with Universal Music. Co-written with producer Naitumela Masuku, professionally known as Jungleboi, the song incorporates pop and reggae influences. A collection of remixes was released later that year.
2026–present: Subsequent releases In February 2026, Roxen released "Nu pot să te repar", which she wrote and composed herself. The single was released to digital streaming platforms on 3 March without a record label credited in its copyright metadata.
In May 2026, Roxen uploaded the song "Amândoi" to her SoundCloud account.
Artistry Music critics have described Roxen's music primarily as deep house, while her musical style and appearance have been compared to those of Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish. In an interview with București FM, Roxen cited Beyoncé as a major musical influence.
Personal life At the age of 14, Roxen was diagnosed with lyme disease. She is vegetarian. As of June 2020, she resides in Bucharest. At the beginning of the same month, she 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. In July 2021, the singer came out as non-binary in a TikTok video, and eventually clarified that she identifies with all pronouns. 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". However, in 2024, along with her endorsement of pro-Russian and far-right Romanian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, she stated that she felt manipulated by the LGBTQ community.
Discography Singles As lead artist +List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album Peak chart positions for singles in Romanian Airplay: For "You Don't Love Me": For "Ce-ți cântă dragostea": For "Spune-mi": For "Parte din tine": For "Inimă nu fi de piatră": For "Dincolo de Marte": "Favourite Type": For peak positions in Commonwealth of Independent States States Airplay: For "Money Money": For "Dincolo de Marte": "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" 2019 1 — — — — — rowspan="25" "Alcohol You" 2020 — — — — — — "" 1 — — — — — "How to Break a Heart" — — — — — — "Wonderland"(with Alexander Rybak) — — — — — — "Parte din tine"(with DJ Project) 2021 9 — — — — — "Amnesia" — — 51 26 — — "Inimă nu fi de piatră" 51 — — — — — ""(with DMNDS and Strange Fruits Music) — 7 — — — 3 "Strada ta"(with Nane) — — — — — — "Crazy Valorant"(with Killa Fonic) — — — — — — ""(with Randi) 2 98 — — — — ""2022 — — — — 2 —ZPAV: Gold "Printre stele" — — — — — — "Ghost" — — — — — — "Biggest Idiot" — — — — — — "Fool" — — — — — — "Enemies"(with Selin) — — — — — — "Fato" 2023 — — — — — — "Infinit" — — — — — — "În inimă Crăciun" — — — — — — "Saruta-ma" 2024 — — — — — — "Lasă-mă" — — — — — "Save You" 2025 — — — — — — "Favourite Type" 69 — — — — — "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.
As featured artist +List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions Album Peak chart positions for singles in Moldovan Airplay:
"You Don't Love Me": "You Don't Love Me"(Sickotoy featuring Roxen) 2019 3 7 29 rowspan="3" "Over and Over"(PAX featuring Roxen)2020 — — rowspan="2" "Devil in Disguise"(Coyot featuring uncredited vocals by Roxen) — — "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory."*" denotes that the chart did not exist at that time.
Promotional singles Title Year Album+List of promotional singles "I Don't Care"2019 rowspan="7" "Beautiful Disaster"2020 "Cherry Red" "Colors" "Storm" "Escape" "Nono Bad" 2022
Guest appearances + List of guest appearances Title Year Album"Nu dorm"2022Cordial"Cenușăreasa"Foame și ambiție
Music videos Title Year Lead performer(s) Guest performer(s) Director(s)+List of music videos "You Don't Love Me" 2019 Sickotoy Roxen Raluca Netca "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" Note: Open the description for credits. Roxen rowspan="2" "I Don't Care" Note: Open the description for credits. Șerban Racovițeanu "Over and Over" Note: Open the description for credits. 2020 PAX Roxen Alex Mureșan "Escape" Roxen rowspan="14" "Spune-mi" Anton San "How to Break a Heart" "Wonderland" Roxen /Alexander Rybak Raluca Netca "Parte din tine" Note: Open the description for credits. 2021 Roxen /DJ Project Kobzzon "Amnesia" Roxen Bogdan Păun "Inimă nu fi de piatră" Note: Open the description for credits. Kobzzon "Money Money" Roxen /DMNDS /Strange Fruits Music Isabella Szanto /Roberto Stan /Loops Production "Dincolo de Marte" Randi /Roxen Ionuț Trandafir "Crazy Valorant" Killa Fonic /RoxenBogdan Păun "Printre stele"2022 Roxen "Ghost" Note: Open the description for credits. Mausio /Roxen Fati.TV "Biggest Idiot" Roxen David Mogan "Fool" Note: Open the description for credits. Cristina Poszet /Andra Marta
Notes
References
External links