Janey Godley was born into the poverty in the East End of Glasgow, leaving school at 16 with no qualifications. Her parents Annie and Jim Currie were alcoholics and her mother was also addicted to tranquilisers.

Godley and her sister, Ann Crawford, were sexually abused by their maternal uncle, and in 1982, when Godley was 21, her mother drowned in the Clyde. Godley believes she was murdered by her violent boyfriend, although he was never charged.

She married Sean Storrie – who has Asperger syndrome and was born into a gangster family – in 1980 when she was just 19. Together they ran a pub in Calton, Glasgow for 14 years during the 1980s and 1990s.

She took up stand-up in 1994, adopting the stage name Godley and has quickly established herself on the circuit, playing everywhere from the Glastonbury Festival to inmates at Scottish prisons. She was also a contestant on the 2004 C4 reality show, Kings Of Comedy

In 2002, she won Best Show Concept at the New Zealand Comedy Festival and, in 2006 won the Spirit of The Festival Award.

Her autobiography Handstands in the Dark, a top ten bestseller both as hardback (2005) and paperback (2006), covers her pre-showbiz life.

Godley became known on social media – especially after she was pictured standing outside Donald Trump's Turnberry Golf resort holding a sign stating ‘Trump is a Cunt’ in 2016. Also going viral were the videos she made during lockdown revoicing Sturgeon's daily Covid briefings. 

It led to her becoming the voice of a public health campaign, but her involvement with the Scottish government prompted to critics delving into her Twitter past an unearthing messages Godley acknowledged used 'offensive, hurtful language', for which she apologised.

In 2023, Godley won the first Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award, given out but the city's comedy festival.

In 2021, Godley shared her ovarian cancer diagnosis on social media in November 2021, and a year later announced on Twitter that she had been given the all-clear. However, a subsequent scan showed signs of cancer in her abdomen. Her experiences with cancer were covered in a documentary film and another volume of memoirs – Janey: The Woman That Won't Shut Up – both released in 2024.