[1] Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical Hair[2][3] and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.

[16] When she made her debut in April 1970, Hines became the youngest person in the world to play a featured role in any production of Hair.

Fellow performers included Keith Glass, Sharon Redd, Reg Livermore, John Waters and Victor Willis.

[4] Other cast members included Trevor White, Jon English, Doug Parkinson, Stevie Wright, John Paul Young and Rory O'Donoghue.

[22][deprecated source] Hines's vocals were on the cover songs "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?".

[6] During late 1974 Hines also performed as the backing vocalist on Jim Keays' solo concept album The Boy from the Stars.

[11][24] Five Top Ten singles were released between 1976 and 1979, including her cover versions of Artie Wayne's "From the Inside", Burt Bacharach/Hal David's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", "What I Did for Love" (from A Chorus Line) and Karen Carpenter's "Something's Missing (in My Life)".

[24] Hines's biggest hit was with Tom Snow's "You", which reached number 2 in the singles charts in Australia in October 1977.

Mark Kennedy, her backing band's drummer (ex-Spectrum, Doug Parkinson in Focus, Ayers Rock), saw the sheet music in the studio and began arguing the songs' worth to Porter.

[24] Her albums have sold close to a million copies and Hines was the first Australian female performer to attain a Platinum record.

[7] Hines was voted "Queen of Pop", the country's most popular female performer, each year from 1976 to 1978, by the readers of TV Week.

[2] Her success had been boosted by appearances on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) popular TV music show Countdown.

[5][27] By November 1979, Hines had fallen out with Wizard Records' owner Robie Porter,[6] and moved on to the Midnight label under Warner Music Australia,[5] after waiting out her contract she returned to recording to achieve a few more hits including the dance track version of Dusty Springfield's "Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees", which reached Top Ten in 1981.

[6] Hines returned to theatre for a Jesus Christ Superstar revival in late 1983,[5] and she then decided to devote more time to raising her daughter.

[21] In 1986, a fall in her kitchen resulted in the diagnosis of her diabetes, which was treated by daily injections of insulin, careful monitoring of her diet and a commitment to fitness.

[6] By 1998, Hines enlisted Rockmelons' members Bryon Jones and Ray Medhurst as producers for Time of Our Lives, which charted from August 1999 and peaked at number 17.

The singles "Flashdance, What a Feeling" (originally recorded by Irene Cara) and "Time of Our Lives" were released with the latter peaking at No.

[6][9] In May 2003, Hines endured the illness and death of her mother Esme;[9][16][18] she returned to the public eye with her role as a judge on the television show Australian Idol from July 27, 2003.

"[32] The success of the program has led to further interest in her as a recording artist, and in 2004 she released an album of cover versions, titled Hinesight – Songs from the Journey which featured a duet, with former Home and Away star Belinda Emmett, "Shower the People".

[11] Hines made a cameo appearance on Neighbours in early 2007; on 18 July, she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

[36] In 2015, Hines starred on stage in the disco musical Velvet, with performances at the Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane and Edinburgh.

In early 2015, Marcia Hines covered the song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", specifically for the trailer of season two of The Real Housewives of Melbourne.

[42] These two songs then went on to feature in her brand new greatest hits album, Still Shining: The 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collection, which was officially released in July 2023, through ABC Music.

[45] On 25 August 2023, Hines released a cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me", which featured as the lead single for her forthcoming fifteenth studio album.

[35] Hines grew up with asthma, missing months of schooling as a result of life-threatening attacks,[57] and was diagnosed with diabetes after collapsing at her home in 1986.

[21] Her elder brother Dwight's death by suicide, in April 1981, devastated Hines, but her mother Esmeralda (Esme) helped her through their grief.

[58] On January 26, 2009, Hines was appointed as Member, Order of Australia "for service to the entertainment industry as a performer, judge and mentor, and to the community through a range of charitable organisations".