Sue Devaney (real name Susan Barber) was born on 2nd July 1967 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Cheshire. She left school with "O" levels in Drama and English and joined the Oldham Theatre Workshop. She gained her equity card by singing in pubs and clubs around Manchester and then at the age of sixteen she formed a band called The Dam Buskers that toured the north in street theatre.