Aluna Francis was born in Wales in July 1988 to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. After her parents separated, she was raised in New Jersey and London. Her name “Aluna” means “come here” in the Mwera dialect of Tanzania, “pupil” in Portuguese and “Mother Earth” in Mayan. Before working in the music industry, Francis worked as a reflexologist. Francis' first venture into the music industry came when she sang in a group called My Toys Like Me. In 2013, Francis appeared as a panellist on the BBC music game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. In July 2019, Francis announced that she was expecting a child by the end of the year. Francis announced on 17 November 2019 via Instagram that she had given birth to a girl named Amaya.