Ana Maria Alias Vega, commonly known by her artistic name, Pasión Vega, was born in Madrid on April 23, 1976. She grew up in Malaga, first performing publicly in church choirs and small Christian groups. Her first recordings were with a Christian group called Los Misioneros de la Esperanza (MIES) while she was still in her teens. Vega got her feet wet in the recording industry through a local radio competition, the prize for which would be a professionally recorded single. She won the competition a few years in a row, and started being noticed by local media professionals.