Pelageya's mother, Svetlana Gennadiyevna Khanova (), formerly a jazz-singer, theatre director and performing arts instructor, is now a producer and art director of her daughter's band. Pelageya's father is unknown. Her last name
Khanova is the surname of her mother's last husband. At the age of eight, Pelageya entered the musical school attached to Novosibirsk Conservatoire. At nine she was awarded the title "Best folk-singer of Russia in 1996" at a television contest. In 1997, she sang at
Moscow's 850th Anniversary Pageant concert, was the sole performer at the Heads of Government of Three States Summit (
Jacques Chirac,
Helmut Kohl,
Boris Yeltsin) and participated in
KVN TV show as a member of
Novosibirsk State University team. In July 1999, she was invited by
Mstislav Rostropovich to a musical festival in France alongside
Evgeny Kissin,
Ravi Shankar,
B.B. King. In an interview to a French newspaper
Galina Vishnevskaya – Rostropovich's wife – called her then "a future of the world's opera". In 2000 Pelageya assembled a band under her name. In 2009, Pelageya was awarded the title "Best female soloist of the year" according to
Nashe Radio. In 2015 she was awarded "Best Folk Artist" at the
Russian National Music Awards. After the birth of her daughter, she returned to music by taking part in the anniversary concert of
Nikolay Rastorguyev, the leader of the band
Lyube, where she performed the song "Конь" ("Horse") in a duet with him. On 22 August 2025, it was announced that she had become one of the official ambassadors of
Intervision 2025. == Personal life ==