[1] Born on July 25, 1929, Gurgulia grew up in the old districts of Tbilisi.
In 1952, Gurgulia graduated from Tbilisi Ilia Chavchavadze Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages.
There, together with Giuli Darakhvelidze and Medea Sikharulidze, she founded the women's vocal-keyboard trio "Samaya", which performed songs written by Gurgulia (often on her own lyrics).
Gurgulia's songs had a distinctive sound and were derived from Georgian folk and partly urban styles.
In the 2017 film My Happy Family, the leading actress, Ia Shughliashvili, who in real life happens to be Gurgulia's daughter, performs one of her mother's songs on the guitar.