Family and Early Career

Magalona was one of the nine children of actors Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran, popular film stars of the 1940s and 1950s. His grandfather, Enrique Magalona, served in the Philippine Senate from 1946 to 1955. He graduated from High School at the Don Bosco Technical College in Mandaluyong City from 1978 to 1981 and studied at the San Beda College in Manila from 1981-1984.

With the familiarity brought about by having celebrity parents, Magalona started out as a breakdancer in the 1980s. He was cast in several Filipino movies of that decade, including Bagets 2. He likewise gained attention as the resident DJ/rapper in the IBC-13 variety show Loveli'Ness.

Magalona was introduced by co-actor Richard Gomez to Pia Arroyo at a party in a disco owned by the late film director Ishmael Bernal, and the couple got married in 1985. The couple had eight children, two of whom were Francis' step-children: Unna, Nicolo, Francis Jr. (Frank), Elmo, Arkin, Clara, and actresses Maxene and Saab.