Schuurman was born in Utrecht and raised in Bunnik as the daughter of a Dutch father and a Chinese-Surinamese mother; she's the younger sister of Katja Schuurman. Schuurman started her singing career several years before her graduation. Her first attempt to break into the music business was with some unsuccessful R&B and Dance projects. She also sang in the band Jeunes Turcs alongside her older sister Katja in 1995.

After a short break in her musical career, she released some singles in 1999 which were more successful. A Little Famous and Maybe the Wine were minor hits and enabled her a certain degree of fame. Also, in the same year, she featured in the video Onderweg by Abel and started to present a television program on Fox Kids. Her final breakthrough followed in 2001 with her song "I Know", and the corresponding album Few Like Me.

Birgit combined her own dates with a Marlboro-sponsored tour of Lenny Kravitz-covers only. Continuing in this direction, 2002 saw he