Siti Nurhaliza

Siti Nurhaliza was born on 11 January 1979, in Berek Polis (police barrack) Kampung Awah in Temerloh, Pahang, Malaysia where she is the fourth child in a family of seven siblings to Tarudin Ismail, a police officer and Siti Salmah Bachik, a housewife. She comes from a musically inclined family; her brother, Saiful Bahri Tarudin, and her sisters, Siti Norsaida and Siti Nursairah are also singers. Her grandfather was a famous violinist, and her mother used to be a local traditional singer.

During her childhood, she was involved in various school activities including sports and co-curricular activities. She attended her pre-school at Tabika Perkep, Balai Polis Kampung Awah, Temerloh where she first showcased her early singing talent at the age of six when she sang "Sirih Pinang", a Malay traditional song, at her kindergarten's certificate-receiving event. She later attended primary school at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Clifford and followed up her secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Clifford, Kuala Lipis, Pahang. In 1991, when she was 12 years old, she won one of her earliest singing competitions, with the song "Bahtera Merdeka" at the Merdeka Day Singing Contest, a local patriotic song competition. During her schooling years, she was active in sports, especially in netball and this was evident when she participated in two different sports events – netball and 5x80 meter relay during the Fiesta Media Idola 2006 in Kuantan. She was also chosen as one of the torch bearers to light the games of the Fiesta, marking its opening alongside Malaysian actress, Fasha Sandha.

Coming from a poor family, at the age of nine, Siti had to wake up at 4:00 am to help her mother make and sell various homemade kuih in her neighbourhood, where sometimes, she also had to carry a makeshift table down three flights of stairs to the main road to set up a small stall. She commented that all the hardships have not only helped her to be more frugal when spending, but also to be more confident when communicating with the public. She also jokingly said that the whole experience has helped to improve her vocal skills as she has to shout to call for customers. Apart from participating in singing competitions, she also used to follow her uncle, Abdul Rahim Bachik, to invitational shows like wedding ceremonies and dinner parties, which have helped to expose her to performing live.

Although she had good SPM results, Siti Nurhaliza declined to pursue her tertiary education to focus solely on her music career. In a 2012 interview, Siti said that she did not regret not obtaining a university degree as none of her family pursued higher education due to financial difficulties.