Alison Moyet was born in Billericay, Essex, England. Her father was French; her mother was English. She grew up in Basildon, where she attended school. She left school at 16 and trained as a piano tuner. She was involved in a number of punk rock, pub rock and blues bands in the South East Essex area during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including The Vandals and the Screamin' Ab Dabs, The Vicars and The Little Roosters.