Born in Monopoli, Province of Bari, Apulia, Raimondi studied operatic singing and foreign languages. In 1956, Raimondi was among the winners of a RAI contest of new voices and got the chance to perform at the 1956 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, she eventually won with the song "Aprite Le Finestre" ("Open the Windows"). In the same year she represented Italy in the first Eurovision Song Contest with the same song.