Born in Argentina, Juana Molina grew up in a musical environment. Her father, revered tango singer and composer Horacio Molina, gave her guitar lessons from the age of five. Her mother, actress Chunchuna Villafañe, is a committed music lover who initiated Juana to the secrets of her extensive record collection.
Following the military coup of 1976, the Molina family fled the country and lived in exile in Paris for six years. During those formative teenage years in Paris, Juana’s outlook on music was vastly expanded, a.o. by regularly listening to a couple of French radio stations which offered programs featuring music from around the globe.
When Juana returned to Argentina she was determined to become independent and to pursue a career in music. Like so many other 20-somethings, Juana’s career aspirations were, “to earn a good salary for working just a few hours”, in order to keep free time to develop her musicianship. She knew she had a knack for doing imitations, and went to pass an audition for a TV program. She got hired on the spot.