Margo Timmins

Margo Timmins
Timmins, with the Cowboy Junkies in Japan, July 30, 1988
Background information
Born	(1961-01-27) 27 January 1961 (age 56) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocalist
Years active	1985–present
Associated acts	Cowboy Junkies

Margo Timmins (born January 27, 1961) is the lead vocalist of the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies. She is the sister of Michael Timmins, the band's lead guitarist and Peter Timmins, the band's drummer. Her ethereal vocals, paired with the band's spare and quiet songs performed at a languid pace, give the band its unique sound.

Margo Timmins was born and spent most of her childhood in Montreal as one of six children of Barbara and John Timmins. She describes her mother Barbara as "a very honest person, and very confident in who she was and her emotions and her place in the world. And I think if she gave anything, that's what she gave us: the sense that you do what you do, and not to worry about it too much. A confidence. Not a confidence that we're necessarily right, but even if we're wrong, well, too bad".

Her father, John Timmins, spent his professional life working in the sales and marketing divisions of several aviation companies. His passion in life, however, was music and his love of song was passed on to his children, especially his son Michael (Margo's brother) who would eventually start Cowboy Junkies.

As a young girl, she remembered going through her brother Michael's extensive record collection. Some of her early favourites that influence her to this day include: Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited, and Nashville Skyline, by Bob Dylan, Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen, Harvest by Neil Young, and Townes Van Zandt's, Flyin' Shoes.

It did not occur to Timmins that she could ever sing professionally. However, her youth was filled with music. She remembers singing while doing the dishes, singing in school plays and pageants and singing Carole King songs at camp.