Mariza and her family moved to Lisbon when she was age 3. There her parents ran a restaurant located in the neighbourhood where fado was said to have been born. Mariza began singing along with fado performers at the family restaurant before she learned how to read. When she was 15, her adolescent interest in more “modern” music genres led her to explore rock (rock and roll), blues, jazz, and bossa nova, but by adulthood Mariza had returned to her first love. She was discovered by musician and producer Jorge Fernando, who heard her sing one evening and persuaded her to record an entire album. She appeared on Portuguese television as part of a special program in honour of legendary fadista Amália Rodrigues (Rodrigues, Amália da Piedade Rebordão), who died in 1999. Mariza's performance drew praise, and in 2000 she was presented with the Voice of Fado award by Central FM (the national radio station of Portugal). Later the popular Portuguese television program Hermansic asked her to perform for pop star Sting in order to introduce him to fado music.

Mariza's debut album, Fado em mim, was released in Portugal in 2001 and garnered widespread critical acclaim when it was released internationally the following year. In early 2003 Mariza received the BBC's Radio 3 World Music Award for best European act. She released her second album, Fado curvo, that year, and she toured extensively to support it. Her third album, Transparente (2005), angered some purists by breaking with the traditional fado sound and including sweeping orchestral string arrangements and up-tempo, Django Reinhardt (Reinhardt, Django)-inspired guitar accompaniment.