Susan Kay Quatro was born on June 3, 1950, in Detroit, Michigan, into a musically inclined family that encouraged her early interest in performance. Raised in the Detroit area, she grew up surrounded by the thriving rock and soul scene of the 1950s and 1960s, influences that would later shape her distinctive sound. From a young age, Quatro showed a natural affinity for music, and by her teens she had already begun performing in local bands, developing the bass guitar skills and commanding stage presence that would define her career.

In the late 1960s, Quatro relocated to England, a move that would prove pivotal to her rise to stardom. There she caught the attention of producer Mickie Most, who helped launch her solo career. Her self-titled debut album, released in 1973, arrived alongside a string of hit singles that found enormous success in Europe and Australia. "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" (1974) both reached number one in several countries, establishing her as a major international star. Additional tracks such as "48 Crash," "Daytona Demon," "The Wild One," and "Your Mama Won't Like Me" also charted highly overseas, cementing her reputation as a pioneering female rock artist who played her own instrument and fronted her own band.

Quatro's success extended beyond music into acting. She took on a recurring role as bass player Leather Tuscadero on the popular American sitcom Happy Days, a part that introduced her to a broad US television audience. Around the same time, her duet "Stumblin' In" with Chris Norman, lead singer of Smokie, reached number four in the United States, becoming her only song to chart in the top 40 in her homeland. Between 1973 and 1980, she was awarded six Bravo Ottos, an honor given to musicians as voted by readers of the German teen magazine Bravo.

Over the decades, Quatro has released fifteen studio albums, ten compilation albums, and one live album, maintaining a prolific and enduring recording career. In 2010, she was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame, a recognition of her roots in the Detroit music community. She is reported to have sold over 50 million records worldwide and continues to perform live.

Quatro's recent work reflects an ongoing creative partnership with her family. Her son Richard Tuckey contributed to her 2019 album No Control and collaborated on the 2021 release The Devil in Me. Her most recent studio album, Face to Face, was released in 2023. Beyond recording and touring, Quatro remains active in radio broadcasting, hosting her own programs and sharing her deep knowledge of music with listeners around the world.