Susan Kay Quatro[ was born and raised in Detroit. Her paternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant to the U.S.. Her family name of “Quattrocchi” (“four eyes”, meaning “bespectacled”) was shortened to Quatro. 

She was influenced at the age of six by seeing Elvis Presley perform on television. She has said that she had no direct female role models in music, but was inspired by Billie Holiday and liked the dress sense of Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las “because she wore tight trousers and a waistcoat on top – she looked hot”.