Born into a Bosniak family near Tuzla, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, she grew up in Brcko, the youngest child of Abid Jahic (c. 1928 - 22 October 2010) and Ifeta (nee Smajlovic; 15 April 1934 - 21 November 2014). Both of her parents are originally from villages near Srebrenik; her father was born in Jezinac and her maternal family hailed from Cehaje. Fahreta grew up in a Muslim home with sister Faketa and brother Faruk. At the start of the Bosnian War in 1992, her sister Faketa escaped to Canada, where she lives today, while Brena stayed in Belgrade where she had been living since 1980.

In early 1980, at the age of 19, Fahreta began singing with a band called Lira Show when the group's original singer Spasa left the band because her husband, a boxer, did not want his wife to be a singer. Sasa Popovic, the band's frontman, was initially opposed to the idea that Fahreta should be the band's new singer, but later changed his opinion. She subsequently moved to Novi Sad and then to Belgrade. Brena's first performance with Lira Show occurred on 6 April 1980 in the hotel Turist in Backa Palanka. Lira Show changed their name to Slatki Greh (Sweet Sin) in 1981. Brena and Slatki Greh premiered their first studio album, Cacak, Cacak, on 3 February 1982. It was named after the Serbian city Cacak. The album was written mostly by Milutin Popovic-Zahar, and the career-manager was Vladimir Cvetkovic.  Since her career began in 1980, she has become arguably the most popular singer of the former Yugoslavia, and a top-selling female recording artist with more than 40 million records sold. That same year Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh appeared in the first part of Yugoslav classic comedy film Tesna koza with popular comedian Nikola Simic and actress Ruzica Sokic, which raised their profile and brought them almost instant fame. They would again team up with songwriter Milutin Popovic-Zahar for their second studio album Mile voli disko, released 18 November 1982. In addition to the title song, the album had a couple of other hit songs: "Duge noge" and "Dama iz Londona".  In 1983, Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh ended their collaboration with Milutin Popovic-Zahar and Vladimir Cvetkovic. That same year Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh participated in Jugovizija, the Yugoslav selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Sitnije, Cile, sitnije". The song was released on an extended play of the same name, along with another song. Their appearance on Jugovizija caused confusion among the audience, since the competition was considered exclusively reserved for pop singers. Although they did not qualify for the prestigious European competition, Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh won the contest, gaining even more popularity.

Did she perform any more with Slatki Greh?
That same year Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh appeared in the first part of Yugoslav classic comedy film Tesna koza with popular comedian Nikola Simic and actress Ruzica Sokic,