Tan was born in Hawaii to a Japanese–Samoan father and an Okinawan–Taiwanese mother. She was raised by her grandmother, who was an established folk Dancer and singer and was also the owner of several massage parlors. While her mother's family was musical, her father's was mainly military, including her sister - who serves in the United States Marine Corps and has helped Tan with her official website. As a "Navy brat", Tan traveled around the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa all before she started high school. She had a childhood background in the performing arts and has worked in the commercial fisheries industry in the past.