Cinquetti was born in Verona. At the age of 16 she won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1964 singing "Non ho l'età" ("I'm Not Old Enough"), with music composed by Nicola Salerno and lyrics by Mario Panzeri. Her win enabled her to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 in Copenhagen with the same song, where she claimed her country's first ever victory in the event. Cinquetti became the youngest winner of the contest to date, aged 16 years and 92 days. Only one younger artist has triumphed since: Sandra Kim in 1986.