Mylène Gautier was born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, a suburb (now borough) of Montreal. Her parents moved from France to Canada in the late 1950s as Farmer's father, Max, pursued an engineering contract. Her family returned to France when she was eight, settling in the Parisian suburb of Ville-d'Avray. In her teenage years, Farmer was passionate about horse-riding, going on to qualify as a riding instructor at the equestrian centre in Saumur. At 17, however, Mylène Farmer discovered her other passion, acting, and she abandoned the stables to take a three-year course at the Cours Florent, a drama school in Paris. Changing her name to Mylène Farmer as a tribute to her idol, 30's Hollywood actress Frances Farmer, she began to earn a living as a model acting in several TV ads.

In 1984, Farmer met Laurent Boutonnat, a young film student also enrolled in Cours Florent, when she replied to a newspaper ad for an actress for a small film he was working on. Farmer and Boutonnat became friends and forged a creative partnership, writing and producing the music together. Boutonnat, whose ambition was to become a film director, was also the driving force behind Mylène’s videos. Much of Farmer's fame and success can be attributed to elaborate and theatrical music videos which are seen as short films. Her concerts and videos are often compared to those of Michael Jacksonand Madonna. Farmer gained fame with songs featuring very shocking yet poetic lyrics, and somewhat explicit music videos.

Farmer is the most successful and provocative female French recording artist, the only artist to have each of her studio albums gaining Platinum status in France. She is also very popular in Belgium, Switzerland, Russia and parts of Eastern Europe.

Among her best-known songs are "Désenchantée", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", "Sans contrefaçon", "Libertine", "C'est une belle journée", and "Rêver".