Anelia Georgieva Atanasova was born in Stara Zagora on July 1, 1982 to Svetla and Georgi Atanasov. The family members on her maternal side were professional musicians. She has an older sister, Radost.

Discovered as a talent in the elementary school while she was in second grade by her teacher Slavka Ivanova,[1] she started performing on several occasions singing folk songs. At the age of 12 she became a part of trio "Glasoviti Trakiicheta". In 1994 the band had recorded and released a compilation of Thracian songs through a record company Balkanton.[1] After that she was singing in the small chorus of ensemble "Zagorche". At the age of 19, she was signed up to the Payner Music, the biggest pop-folk company in Bulgaria.[2] In 1996 Anelia was accepted as a first student in her grade in Philip Kutev music school with a score of 100% on the Bulgarian instrument Gadulka. Later on, she won many awards for her skills on the instrument. In 1997, her father died. When asked if she had three wishes, Anelia answered with I dont have three wishes- I have only one. That is for my father to see how far Ive come and to share my success with him.

In the second course of her studying, Anelia began singing more and training her voice to improve her singing technique. In her third year at the school, she began singing in public bars in her native city. In the summer of 2005, Anelia was accepted in Pancho Vladigerov as number one in her grade for pop and jazz.Professional career

In 2002 she recorded her first song "Chuzhdi ustni" (English: "Strangers lips") . Her second song recorded for Payner "Pogledni me v ochite" ("Look me in the eyes") became an instant hit in Bulgaria.[1] It became one of the fastest selling singles in the Bulgarian music history and is still the most successful single of Anelia.

In December 2002 she released her first album. The album Pogledni me v ochite had become her all-time best-selling album. According to her official website up to 100,000 copies of the album had been sold by year 2003.[3] All the songs were co-written and co-produced with Todor Dimitrov. Dimitrov was also her manager, until the end of their cooperation in 2007.

In April 2004 Anelia released her second album. Ne poglejdaj nazad ("Don't look back") sold over 60,000 copies and brought hits like "Obichaj me" ("Love me"), "Iskam te" ("I want you"), "Dve tela" ("Two bodies") and "Edna minuta" ("One minute"). The song "Obichaj me" was dedicated to now her ex-husband, Konstantin Dinev. In March 2005 her first DVD compilation was released. In August, Anelia released her third studio album Vsichko vodi kam teb ("Everything leads to you"). The single "Everything leads to you" became the biggest summer hit in the BG. In 2006 she released her fourth album, called Pepel ot rozi ("Rose ashes"). "Pepel ot rozi" produced hits like "Do zori" ("By dawn"), Samo za mig ("Only for a moment"),Viatar v kosite ti ("Wind in your hair") and "Shtom si do men" ("When you are by my side").

On her fifth studio album Edinstven ti (One And Only You), released in 2008, she cooperated with Tencho Yanchev and Ivan Ivanov.[4] The album features a new musical direction for Anelia into a pop dance music genre rather than chalga. The song "Vse endo mi e" shows electronic, house and club music influences, other songs like Zabraniavan si (I forbid you) or Edistven ti surprise with a more up-beat, electronic arrangements.