Susan Boyle

At 63 years old, Susan Boyle has this physical status:

Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer, who rose to fame after appearing as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. Her debut studio album, I Dreamed a Dream, was released in November 2009 and became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time, beating the previous record held by Spirit by Leona Lewis.

I Dreamed a Dream set a record for biggest first week sales by a debut album, according to the Official Chart Company in the United Kingdom.

Topping the Billboard 200 for six weeks, it was the second best-selling album of 2009 in the US.

In her first year of fame, Boyle made £5 million (£6.6 million today) with the release of I Dreamed a Dream and its lead-off singles, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Wild Horses".

The success was continued with her second album, The Gift (2010), where she became only the third act ever to top both the UK and US album charts twice in the same year, and was followed by Boyle's third album, Someone to Watch Over Me (debuted at #1 on UK charts, #4 on US charts), released on 31 October 2011.

Boyle subsequently released her fourth album Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage (reached #7 in UK, #12 in US) in 2012, her fifth album Home for Christmas (fifth consecutive top ten on UK charts) in 2013, and her sixth album Hope (sixth consecutive top twenty on UK and US charts) in 2014.On 12 May 2012, Boyle returned to Britain's Got Talent to perform as a guest in the final, singing "You'll See".

The following day, she performed at Windsor Castle for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant singing "Mull of Kintyre".

Having performed "I Know Him So Well" in a duet with one of her idols Elaine Paige in London in December 2009, Boyle performed with her other musical idol Donny Osmond in Las Vegas in November 2012, singing "This is the Moment", a duet from her album Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs From the Stage.

Boyle's net worth was estimated at £22 million in April 2012.

She is known for supporting various charitable causes, and has appeared on the UK charity telethons BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief.

As of 2013, she had sold over 19 million albums worldwide and received two Grammy Awards nominations.

On 23 July, Boyle performed "Mull of Kintyre" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in front of the Queen.

Personal life

Boyle still lives in the family home, a four-bedroom ex-council house in Blackburn, which she purchased from her earnings in 2010. Her father died in the 1990s, and her eight siblings had left home. Boyle has never married, and she dedicated herself to caring for her ageing mother until her death in 2007 at the age of 91. A neighbour reported that when Bridget Boyle died, her daughter "wouldn't come out for three or four days or answer the door or phone". Boyle is a practising Roman Catholic and sang in her church choir at her church in Blackburn. Boyle remains active as a volunteer at her church, visiting elderly members of the congregation in their homes. On a 2010 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Boyle summarised that her daily life was "mundane" and "routine" prior to stardom.

In 2012, Boyle was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. She made her diagnosis public in a BBC interview in December 2013.

In November 2012, when asked if she had tried to find love through Internet dating, Boyle said she was too scared, saying: "Knowing my luck I'd go out on a date and you'd find my limbs scattered around various Blackburn dustbins!"

In July 2013, Boyle endorsed the Better Together campaign to keep Scotland as part of the United Kingdom in the 2014 independence referendum. In so doing, she stated, "I am a proud, patriotic Scot, passionate about my heritage and my country. But I am not a nationalist", going on to say, "We have still been able to retain our proud identity whilst being a part of Britain."

In November 2014, it was reported that Boyle was dating her first boyfriend, who was "around the same age" as she was.

Source

Life and career

Boyle was born in Blackburn, West Lothian. Patrick Boyle, a miner and war veteran who also served as a guitarist at the Bishop's Blaize, was a shorthand typist. Both her parents were born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, but they also have family connections to County Donegal in Ireland. Boyle, the youngest of four brothers and five sisters, was born when her mother was 45 years old. She was raised believing that she was deprived of oxygen during a brief pregnancy that resulted in a learning disability. However, she was told in 2012-2013 that she had been misdiagnosed and that she was on the Autism spectrum, with an IQ "above average." Boyle claims she was bullied as a child.

Boyle, a shy student who left school without having a certificate, served in government training courses and performed at local venues.

Boyle took singing lessons from vocal coach Fred O'Neil. She attended Edinburgh Acting School and appeared in Edinburgh Fringe. She also sang at the Marian basilica while participating in her parish church's pilgrimages to the Knock Shrine in County Mayo, Ireland.

She auditioned for Michael Barrymore's My Kind of People in 1995.

Boyle also released three albums: "Cry Me A River," "Killing Me Softly," and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" at Heartbeat Studio, Midlothian. She used all her savings to pay for a professionally cut demo, copies of which she later sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national television. The performance featured her interpretations of "Cry Me a River" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song," and was released on the Internet after her BGT audition.

Boyle also released a song about the Millennium produced at a West Lothian academy in 1999. Only 1,000 copies of the album, Music for a Millennium Celebration, Sound of West Lothian, were released. Boyle's rendition of "Cry Me a River" was "heartbreaking" and "had been on repeat in my CD player ever since I got this CD," according to Amber McNaught of the West Lothian Herald & Post, and the album revealed that Boyle was "not a one-trick pony."

Hello!

"The recording [c]ued] her fame as a singer," she said.

After Boyle's success in numerous local singing competitions, her mother advised her to apply for Britain's Got Talent and take the risk of performing in front of a larger audience than her parish church. Boyle, according to former coach O'Neil, has postponed an audition for The X Factor because she felt people were selected for their looks rather than for their appearances. She almost scrapped out on her bid to audition for the UK's Got Talent because she was too young, but O'Neil persuaded her not to audition anyway. Boyle said she was inspired to pursue a musical career to honor her mother. It was the first time she had sung in public since her mother died.

Boyle applied for an audition in August 2008 for the third series of Britain's Got Talent (as contestant number 43212) and was accepted after a preliminary audition in Glasgow. "As Elaine Paige," Boyle first appeared on Britain's Got Talent at the city's Clyde Auditorium, she said she aspirated to be a professional singer. In the first round, Boyle performed "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables, which attracted over 10 million viewers when it premiered on April 11, 2009. Upon hearing her appearance, programme judge Amanda Holden commented on the audience's initial cynical attitude and the resulting "biggest wake-up call ever."

Boyle was "completely gobsmacked" by her reaction to her appearance. Paige expressed an interest in singing a duet with Boyle and called her "a role model for everybody who has a dream." Boyle's version of "I Dreamed a Dream" was credited with a rise in ticket sales in Les Misérables' Vancouver operation. Cameron Mackintosh, the musical's producer, also praised the show as "heart-touching, thrilling, and uplifting."

Boyle was one of 40 acts to be advanced to the semi-finals. On the first semi-finals of the musical Cats on May 24, she appeared last. She was the act to gain the most votes in the public election to advance to the final. She was the clear favorite to win the final, but the UK TV audience reached a record of 17.3 million viewers.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) became concerned about Boyle's erratic behavior and rumors about her mental health, and sent an email to editors to inform them of clause 3 (privacy) of their code of journalist conduct. "Bole is ill and ill" after Saturday night's performance, Boyle was admitted to The Priory, a private psychiatric clinic in London, according to Talkback Thames. Her stay in hospital drew a lot of notice, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown wishing her well. Boyle's contractual commitment to participating in the BGT tour was waived by Simon Cowell. "She's been battered non-stop for the past seven weeks, and it has taken its toll," her family said, [but...] her dream is still alive" since she was invited to the Independence Day festivities at the White House.

Boyle left the clinic three days after she was admitted and said she would be participating in the BGT tour. Despite health issues, she appeared in 20 of the tour's 24 dates, and she was well-received in cities such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Coventry, and Birmingham. "Despite warnings of defunct,... she exuded a confidence recalling that of a veteran who has been active for years," the Belfast Telegraph said.

On November 23, 2009, Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, was released. "Wild Horses" and "You'll See" are among the album's highlights, as well as "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Cry Me a River" are included. Boyle's debut album in the United Kingdom was named as the top-selling UK debut album of all time, selling 411,820 copies, defeating Leona Lewis' previous record of all time, Spirit. In its first week, I Dreamed a Dream exceeded the majority of the top 5 albums combined.

The album's first week in the United States sold 71,000 copies in its first week, the first week for a debut artist in over a decade. It topped the Billboard charts for six weeks in a row, but it barely failed to become the top-selling "physical" album of 2009, with sales of 3,104,000 as compared to 3,217,000 for Taylor Swift's Fearless. According to People magazine, this has in turn drew more media attention.

It was the first album of the month in Italy and No. 1. An account by a non-Italian artist of all time. It has sold more than 2 million copies around the world in less than a week, making it the country's biggest female debut album.

"I Dreamed a Dream: the Susan Boyle Story," she appeared on her own television special on December 13, 2009, starring a duet with Elaine Paige. It received ten million viewers in the United Kingdom and America, as well as the highest rated television special in the TV Guide Network's history.

Boyle's interpretation of "I Dreamed a Dream" would be the theme song of the anime film Eagle Talon The Movie 3 in Japan, which was later released in Japan on January 16. On his tour of Britain in 2010, Boyle performed for Pope Benedict XVI. Boyle was named in May 2010 as the seventh most influential person in the world by Time magazine. The original song of Boyle's "Who I Was Born To Be" was the theme song of anime film Welcome to the Space Show, which opened in Japan on June 26th.

Boyle's second album, The Gift, will be released on September 9, 2010. Susan's Hunt, the winner of which performed a duet with her on her latest album, took part in the lead-up to the album. On November 8, 2010, the album was released.

"Now Susan's used to the studio and the recording process, this time round we might go even further down the road of recording by gathering a band together and rehearsing songs before we go into the studio to see how she reacts to specific sections and how we can change the arrangements in a similar way," Steve Mac said. I think it's going to be much more fruitful. Susan, it's so important that she links with the public and the public interact with her. She doesn't want to sing anything that hasn't happened to her or that she can't relate to."

Boyle was one of only three acts to top both the UK and US charts twice in the same year in November 2010. Boyle appeared on ABC's "O Holy Night" and later on NBC's Christmas at Rockefeller Center performing "Perfect Day" and "Away in a Manger" on November 30, 2010.

The Woman I Was Born To Be, Boyle's autobiography, was published in October 2010.

Boyle appeared on the second semi-finals show of America's Got Talent's sixth season, which aired on August 31, 2011.

In November 2012, Boyle released Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs From the Stage. She's said she took piano lessons because she wanted to play it for the album. "Susan loves the piano and always dreamed of being able to meet a level that would allow her to perform on stage and on her albums," a reporter told The Sun. Placido Domingo, a well-known opera singer, debuted his album Songs on October 2, 2012, which included a duet with Boyle of Shania Twain's "From This Moment On."

Eleanor Hopewell played in The Christmas Candle for the first time. The film is based on a book written by author Max Lucado about a nineteenth-century village of simple people in the English Cotswolds in need of a miracle. The film was released in the United States on November 22, 2013 in the United States, and in the United Kingdom on November 29th, 2013. Boyle remarking on her first acting role, she said, "I can't believe I'm making a movie." I'm so excited to be a part of The Christmas Candle. Everyone on set is a joy to work with, and it's an honor to be a member of the team." Boyle stars in "Miracle Hymn," the film's anthem and a track from her album Home for Christmas, which also features a duet with Elvis Presley performing "O Come All Ye Faithful." In the United States, the album was released on October 29th, 2013. Boyle appeared in I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story and in a 2011 documentary entitled Susan Boyle: An Unlikely Superstar. Boyle also appeared in a second documentary called There's Something About Susan in the United Kingdom, which first aired on ITV on December 12, 2013. Susan Boyle Her Secret Struggle, a former soldier of the United States, was on TV in the United States on Ovation Channel under the name Susan Boyle's Secret Struggle in the United States, with the premiere on September 9, 2014. Johnny Mathis, an American singer, released an album titled Sending You a Little Christmas in October 2013. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" The album begins with the phrase, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Boyle's duet was a hit.

In October 2014 in the United States and in November 2014 in the United Kingdom, Boyle's sixth album, Hope, was released in the United States and in November 2014 in the United Kingdom. The album, which is based on hope and inspiration, includes a recording live performance by Boyle of "You Raise Me Up" with the Lakewood Church choir. Hope mostly includes classic ballad song interpretations as well as uptempo songs focused on inspiration and hope as Boyle sees them as "two essentials we all need in our life to propel us forward and inspire us to live our dreams; they worked for me." "I have really enjoyed making this album," Boyle said. I had a massive influence on music choices and was able to record "Angel," originally by Sarah Mclachlan, which was one of my all time favorites. I am also delighted to perform some uptempo songs that showcase variation in my repertoire.

Susan Boyle's sixth consecutive top 20 hits the United States, debuting the album at number 16 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, marking her sixth consecutive top 20 debut there. The album debuted at No. 35 weeks in 35 weeks. Billboard's Top Inspirational Albums chart ranks No. 1 on the Billboard Top Inspirational Albums chart. As of November 2016, it had sold 115,000 copies in the United States.

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Inspirational Albums chart for 35 weeks.

On the arrival of the Commonwealth Games' opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Boyle performed "Mull of Kintyre" as the Head of the Commonwealth, HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

Following the release of her previous album, Hope in 2014, Boyle took a break in 2015 to "take a little me time and spend time with family and friends," and the recording of her seventh studio album was postponed until 2016. Boyle announced the arrival of A Wonderful World in October 2016.

Boyle was confirmed to be a contestant in America's Got Talent: The Champions in September 2018. When asked why she joined the competition, she said she wanted to win this time. She performed "Wild Horses" from her 2009 debut album I Dreamed a Dream on January 7th, 2019, and judge Mel B. awarded her a golden buzzer. She advanced to the finals, where she performed the song "I Dreamed a Dream" from her debut in 2009, but she didn't finish in the top five.

On the track "A Million Dreams," Boyle's eighth studio album, Ten, was released on May 31, 2019.

Boyle appeared on the results show on season 14 of America's Got Talent on August 21, 2019.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony, Boyle performed her song "Wings To Fly."

Source