At nineteen, and unable to pay the £19 cost of her mother's funeral expenses, she auditioned as Lynne Stringer (her married name) at the Working Men's Club in Chapeltown, a district of Sheffield. This resulted in a three-week stint singing under the name Sunny Smith, followed by a spell as Zoe Bond. Her husband Malcolm Stringer chose her eventual stage name from a gardening book, though Marta Cane (tomato cane) was misspelled at an early gig and 'Marti Caine' remained with her.