She had a difficult upbringing in Timmins, Ontario, where she was born into a family struggling with poverty. Things were made much more difficult by her mother’s despair and her stepfather’s low-paying forestry job. She had to learn to live without from an early age because she was only one of five children.

She started performing and singing in bars, but after a while she would be responsible for much more than simply occasional jobs. She soon found herself in charge of her siblings.

She was accustomed to living without even necessities like food, heating, and power because her family had always suffered financially.

When she would go without lunch and glance at her classmates, hoping they would leave some food uneaten so she could eat it, she recognized her life was different from theirs.

Usually, the young girl would inform her instructor that she had forgotten her lunch at home or at her locker. As an escape from the terrible reality of her existence, she turned her attention to music.