Anita Pallenberg was born in Rome, the daughter of an Italian artist and a German secretary. She became fluent in four languages at an early age and as a teenager, she studied medicine, picture restoration and graphic design. Before settling in London, she lived in Germany, Rome and New York City, where she was involved with the Living Theater (starring in the play Paradise Now, which featured nudity on stage) and Andy Warhol's Factory. She is a naturalised US citizen.

Pallenberg is known for her romantic involvement with Rolling Stones band members Brian Jones, whom she met in 1965 in Munich where she was working on a modelling assignment, and Keith Richards, for whom she left Jones in 1967 whilst on a holiday in Morocco. There were rumours that she also had a brief affair with Mick Jagger during the filming of Performance, although Pallenberg denied the affair in March 2007 when Performance was released on DVD. Pallenberg and Richards had three children, a son born on 10 August 1969 named Marlon, a daughter, Angela (nee Dandelion) born on 17 April 1972 and another boy, Tara, who was born in 1976, but died in his crib only 10 weeks after his birth.

Author A.E. Hotchner mentions Pallenberg's influence on the development and presentation of the Rolling Stones from the late 1960s throughout the '70s. She layed an unusual role in the male-dominated world of rock music in the late 1960s, acting as much more than just a groupie or partner of a band member. Jagger respected her opinion enough that tracks on Beggars Banquet were remixed when Pallenberg criticised them.In the 2002 compilation release of Forty Licks, Pallenberg is credited as singing background vocals on "Sympathy for the Devil". Her interest in the occult was a featured style component that marked the Stones concerts and public presentation throughout the decade that she was Richards' companion.Tony Sanchez's account of his time as Richards' bodyguard and drug dealer mentions Pallenberg's strange spiritual practices:

“ She was obsessed with black magic and began to carry a string of garlic with her everywhere—even to bed—to ward off vampires. She also had a strange mysterious old shaker for holy water which she used for some of her rituals. Her ceremonies became increasingly secret, and she warned me never to interrupt her when she was working on a spell."