Candy Dulfer was born in Amsterdam in The Netherlands, on September 19, 1969. Her father is Dutch tenor saxophonist Hans Dulfer, a respected musician in their country's jazz scene. Due to her father's influence Dulfer became an avid musician early on in her life. Starting out with teaching herself the alto sax at the age of six, she began studying artists such as Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon. She started her stage performances when she was only 12 years old, beginning by playing with Rosa King, the influential musician from Georgia who moved to the Netherlands in the early ‘70s.

She began to lead her first band when she was just 15, the band was named Funky Stuff, and soon after began her move towards international renown when the band was invited to play as backup for Madonna during her European tour. This led to her backing up Prince in his video "Partyman" where she gained her first international introduction. In the video she played on a side-stage dressed in an over-sized ‘80s tux. Working with Prince led to more recognition and soon after she was able to do some session work with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics.

Candy Dulfer released her debut album Saxuality, in 1990, with RCA Records, gaining success in Europe and the US. The funky alto sax that she played became a big hit with contemporary fans of the genre, leading her to become one of the most well-recognized saxophonists around. The album received a Grammy nomination and was certified Gold. Other albums include What Does it Take in 1999, Girl's Night Out was released in 2001, followed by Right in My Soul in 2003. Her most recent album Candy Store reached number two on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz charts.