Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd was born in London, England on July 11, 1949, but moved to Canada at the age of eight. At fourteen she asked her parents for a guitar as a Christmas present. After hearing a concert by the great English guitarist, Julian Bream, Boyd was determined to master the instrument. While still a teenager she took private lessons with Eli Kassner , Narcisco Yepes , Alirio Diaz , Julian Bream, and legendary guitarist Andres Segovia.

Boyd completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Performance at the University of Toronto where she graduated with honours and won first prize in the Canadian National Music Competition (she now also has several honorary doctorates). After two years of private study with Alexandre Lagoya in Paris, Boyd returned to North America and recorded her first album for Boot/London Records.

In 1986, she recorded the breakthrough album Persona, which was a mixture of Rock, New Age and Classical, with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and guitarists David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton.

Boyd briefly dated Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

She is nicknamed "The First Lady of the Guitar".