[6] Timms has had a successful solo career in the lo-fi electronics and alternative country genres, notably writing the song "Horses", covered by Will Oldham.

Born in Leeds in 1959,[3][7] Timms recorded her first solo album, Hangahar (an experimental improvised film score), at the age of 19 with Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks in 1980.

[9][10][12][13] Timms sang "Give Me Back my Dreams" on The Sixths' Hyacinths and Thistles and has recorded with Marc Almond, The Aluminum Group, Jon Rauhouse's Steel Guitar Show, the Sadies,[14] Andre Williams, and A Grape Dope.

She participated in Vito Acconci's Theater Project for a Rock Band as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival in 1995 and also, along with the rest of The Mekons, performed with Kathy Acker in her lesbian pirate operetta Pussy, King of the Pirates at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and elsewhere.

[citation needed] Wee Hairy Beasties were a children's music group based in Chicago, composed of Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, and Devil in a Woodpile.

[29][30] Timms and Jon Langford, the other Chicago-based member of the Mekons, continue to collaborate on various recording and performance projects, ever since they both moved to Chicago.