When Mercury was eight years old, she began taking dance lessons. At age 13, influenced by Elis Regina, she decided to become a singer. She started singing in local bars in 1980. Mercury went to the , where she enrolled in the Dance School in 1984. A year later she married electronic engineer Zalther Póvoas. She has two children in this marriage, Gabriel Almeida Póvoas. and Giovana Almeida Póvoas born in 1985 and 1986 respectively.