Although born in a small town of Lombardy, she grew up in Cremona city: whence her nickname of "Cremona Tiger" gave her by her friend, the journalist Natalia Aspesi.

She began her career singing pop songs with a "jazzy" feel in the late 1950s. Her first stage name used to be Baby Gate. After a 1958 concert at La Bussola, a nightclub on the Versilia famous for hosting artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, she became a national star in Italy. Her first television appearance was in 1959. In the following two years she took part to the Sanremo Music Festival.

In 1963 her TV and radio career for Rai was stopped, as she refused to hide the fact she was pregnant (she had a relationship with actor Corrado Pani, who was married with Renata Monteduro). However, her unscathed appeal with the audience later moved Rai's functionaries to recall her back. Mina subsequently appeared in numerous TV shows, mostly as a hostess, during the late 1960s and the 1970s. Mina gained also wide popularity abroad, singing also in French, German, Turkish and Japanese. In 1966 she moved her residence to Lugano, Switzerland, obtaining Swiss citizenship in 1989.

Her most famous songs were written by the prolific duo Mogol-Battisti. It was Lucio Battisti who wrote the music for many of her hits including, "Amor Mio", "Io e te da soli" and "Insieme".

After retiring from public appearances in the late 1978 she continues to release albums on a yearly basis, usually featuring on the top 10 charts in Italy with the new single releases. Recent releases include duets with Fabrizio de André and Adriano Celentano.