She was the oldest of four children born to Jack Pope, a salesperson, a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain,[2] and a circus stilt walker, and to Celia, a music hall performer.

[11] Rough Trade released their first studio album, Avoid Freud, and also made an appearance in the Canadian horror film, Deadline, in 1980.

She would team up again with Payola$ founder Paul Hyde to sing the duet "My Brilliant Career" on his album Living Off the Radar in 2000.

[14] After Rough Trade disbanded, Pope released her debut solo single in 1988, which was a cover of The Flirtations' 1968 soul hit, Nothing but a Heartache.

[15] Pope also starred in the cabaret, Quiet Please, There's a Bitter, Petulant Diva on Stage, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

[21][22] Anti Diva also revealed fleeting 1970s dalliances with comic actress Andrea Martin and music producer Bob Ezrin.

Years later, Pope discussed attending Dusty Springfield's funeral where she spent time with the Pet Shop Boys, amongst other notables.

[23] Soon afterwards, Pope re-recorded the Rough Trade single "High School Confidential" for the Queer as Folk season 1 soundtrack and appeared in the Toronto production of The Vagina Monologues in 2001.

[4] In 2005, 21 years after her last EP, Pope returned to Los Angeles and released Transcend, her debut full-length solo album.

[25] Pope is an ambassador for the Harvey Milk School in New York City[26] and a board director for the Songwriters Association of Canada.

In 2015, Pope signed with Squirtgun Records (distributed by eOne Entertainment) to re-release the Music for Lesbians EP on 23 June 2015.

[29] Later that same year, Pope collaborated with keyboardist Kevin Hearn to release the single, Resist It, on 22 October 2018.,[30] which was later accompanied by a music video directed by Phillip Harder.