She was born on October 28, 1957, at the 9th railway station of Djangiztobe in the Semipalatinsk region, where she also graduated from a boarding school. She was one of 8 children in the family.

Her father, a railroad worker, passed away in 2014, and her mother, Aytu, a homemaker, died in 2013. Her older brother also became a musician and had a significant influence on her in childhood. After school, Rymbaeva studied at the Semipalatinsk Music College for three years.