Laura Pausini, omri (Italian pronunciation: [ˈlaura pauˈziːni]; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and record producer. She debuted in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an international hit, reaching the top spot on the Italian Musica e Dischi singles chart, as well as on the Dutch Top 40 and on the Flemish Ultratop 50. Her eponymous debut album was released in Italy on 23 April 1993 and later became an international success, selling two million copies worldwide.

Its follow-up, Laura, was released in 1994 and confirmed her international success, selling three million copies worldwide. The first single from this album, "Strani amori", also became a domestic and international hit, reaching the top 5 on Italian, Dutch and Belgian main singles charts. During the same year, she released her first Spanish-language album, Laura Pausini, composed of ten adapted songs originally included in her previous works. The album was certified diamond by the Association of Phonographic and Videographic of Spain, making her the first non-Spanish artist to sell more than one million copies in Spain.