Susan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961)[1][5] is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 million records.[6] Her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009), is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide, and it was the best-selling album internationally in 2009.[7] In 2011, Boyle made UK music history by becoming the first female artist to achieve three successive albums debut at No.1 in less than two years.[8]
Susan Boyle
1 April 1961[1]
Dechmont, West Lothian, Scotland[4]
Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland
Singer
1998–present
Boyle's debut studio album, I Dreamed a Dream, was released in November 2009; it became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time, beating the previous record held by Spirit by Leona Lewis,[9] and set a record for first-week sales by a debut album, according to the Official Charts Company.[9] In her first year of fame, Boyle made £5 million (£7.1 million today) with the release of I Dreamed a Dream and its lead-off singles, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Wild Horses".[10] The success continued with her second studio album, The Gift (2010), where she became only the third act ever (and the first woman artist) to top both the UK and US album charts with two different albums in the same year.[11] It was followed by Boyle's third studio album, Someone to Watch Over Me (2011).[11][12] She subsequently released the studio albums Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage (2012),[13] Home for Christmas (2013),[14] Hope (2014), and A Wonderful World (2016).[15]
On 13 May 2012, she performed at Windsor Castle for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant singing "Mull of Kintyre".[16] On 23 July 2014, she performed "Mull of Kintyre" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in front of the Queen.[17] To date, Boyle has released eight albums, including two Christmas releases, The Gift and A Wonderful World. In 2019, Boyle celebrated ten years in show business, with a compilation album titled Ten and a tour.
Life and career
Early life and childhood
Boyle was raised in Blackburn, West Lothian.[18] Her father, Patrick Boyle, was a miner and veteran of the Second World War who also worked as a singer at the Bishop's Blaize; her mother Bridget was a shorthand typist. Both her parents were born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, but also had family links to County Donegal in Ireland.[19][20] Born when her mother was aged 45 years, Boyle was the youngest of four brothers and five sisters.[18] She was raised thinking that she had been briefly deprived of oxygen during a difficult birth resulting in a learning disability.[21] However, she was told in 2012–13 that she had been misdiagnosed and is on the Autism spectrum with an IQ "above average".[22] Boyle says she was bullied as a child.[18][23]
After leaving school with few qualifications,[18] Boyle took part in government training programmes,[20] and performed at local venues.[21]
Early musical training and career
Boyle took singing lessons from vocal coach Fred O'Neil.[18] She attended Edinburgh Acting School and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe.[21] She also long participated in her parish church's pilgrimages to the Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland, and sang there at the Marian basilica.[24]
In 1995, she auditioned for Michael Barrymore's My Kind of People.[21]
In 1998, Boyle recorded three tracks—"Cry Me a River", "Killing Me Softly", and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"—at Heartbeat Studio, Midlothian.[25] 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 TV. The demo consisted of her versions of "Cry Me a River" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song"; the songs were uploaded to the Internet after her BGT audition.[26]
In 1999, Boyle submitted a track for a charity CD to commemorate the Millennium[18][27] produced at a West Lothian school. Only 1,000 copies of the CD, Music for a Millennium Celebration, Sounds of West Lothian, were pressed. An early review by Amber McNaught in the West Lothian Herald & Post said 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..."[28][29] The recording found its way onto the internet following her first televised appearance. Hello! said the recording "cement[ed] her status" as a singing star.[30]
After Boyle won several local singing competitions, her mother urged her to enter Britain's Got Talent and take the risk of singing in front of an audience larger than her parish church. Former coach O'Neil said Boyle abandoned an audition for The X Factor because she believed people were being chosen for their looks. She almost abandoned her plan to enter Britain's Got Talent, believing she was too old, but O'Neil persuaded her to audition nevertheless.[31] Boyle said that she was motivated to seek a musical career to pay tribute to her mother.[18] Her performance on the show was the first time she had sung in public since her mother died.[32][33]
Artistry
Media impact
Websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have been crucial in facilitating Boyle's rapid rise to fame.[100] The most popular YouTube video submission of her audition garnered nearly 2.5 million views in the first 72 hours.[101] On the day following the performance, the YouTube video was the most popular article on Digg[102] and made the front page of Reddit.[103] Within a week, the audition performance had been viewed more than 66 million times, setting an online record, while on Wikipedia her biography attracted nearly half a million page views. A total of 103 million video views on 20 websites was reached within nine days.[104] The Los Angeles Times wrote that her popularity on YouTube may in part be due to the broad range of emotion packed into a short clip which was "perfect for the Internet".[105] In December 2009, her audition was named the most-watched YouTube video of the year, with over 120 million viewings, more than three times higher than the second-most-popular video.[106]
Additionally, Boyle's first on-camera interview with Scots journalist Richard Mooney for her local newspaper the West Lothian Courier was named as YouTube's Most Memorable Video of 2009.[107] The video went viral after being uploaded to YouTube on 14 April 2009, amassing more than 5.4 million views as of November 2022.[108][109]
Many newspapers around the world[110][111] (including China,[112] Brazil[113] and the Middle East[114][115]) carried articles on Boyle's performance. Later, the British press took to referring to her by a short-form of her name, 'SuBo'.[116] In the US, several commentators drew parallels between Boyle's performance and that of Paul Potts.[117] ABC News hailed "Britain's newest pop sensation", and its Entertainment section headlined Boyle as "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell".[118]
Within the week following her performance on Britain's Got Talent, Boyle was a guest on STV's The Five Thirty Show.[119] She was interviewed via satellite on CBS's The Early Show,[27] NBC's Today, FOX's America's Newsroom,[120] The Oprah Winfrey Show, and via satellite on Larry King Live;[121] she was also portrayed in drag by Jay Leno, who joked that they were related through his mother's Scottish heritage.[122]
At the invitation of NHK, a major Japanese broadcaster, Boyle appeared as a guest singer for the 2009 edition of Kōhaku Uta Gassen, an annual songfest on New Year's Eve in Tokyo, Japan.[123][124] She was introduced as the ōen kashu (応援歌手, lit. "cheering singer") by the MCs and appeared on the stage escorted by Takuya Kimura; she sang "I Dreamed a Dream".[125]
Although Boyle was not eligible for the 2010 Grammy Awards,[126] its host Stephen Colbert paid tribute to Boyle at the ceremony, telling its audience "you may be the coolest people in the world, but this year your industry was saved by a 48-year-old Scottish cat lady in sensible shoes."[127] There was also earlier controversy when Boyle was not nominated in any of the categories for the 2010 Brit Awards.[128]
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.[18] Her father died in the 1990s, and her eight siblings had left home.[148] 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".[149] Boyle is a practising Roman Catholic and sang in her church choir at her church in Blackburn.[150] Boyle remains active as a volunteer at her church, visiting elderly members of the congregation in their homes.[23] 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, and is also epileptic.[22] 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!"[151] 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."[152]
Boyle is a teetotaler. In 2013, she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.[153]
In November 2014, it was reported that Boyle was dating her first boyfriend, who was "around the same age" as she was.[154] Boyle had a minor stroke in 2022. She revealed the news during an appearance on June 4, 2023, after her performance on Britain's Got Talent.[155]
Philanthropy
Charity performances
On 26 January 2010, Boyle sang together with other major artists on the charity recording "Everybody Hurts" put together by Simon Cowell for Haiti Relief for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.[156] On 30 January 2010, Boyle performed at the Indsamling Charity Gala, a telethon for Haiti and Africa held at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark.[157]
Boyle has appeared on the three major UK charity telethons. On 19 March 2010 she sang for the Sport Relief charity on BBC One.[158] On 18 March 2011 she sang a duet of "I Know Him So Well" with Peter Kay on Comic Relief;[159] in addition to the television performance, the duet was sold on CD, DVD, and MP3 download to raise more money for charity. The CD was #21 on the all-time Comic Relief CDs sold.[160] She has performed for BBC Children in Need telethon five times thus far: on 19 November 2010;[161] on 18 November 2011,[162] and on 16 November 2012.[163] on 16 November 2013.[164] on 14 November 2014.[165]
On 10 November 2010, Boyle performed at the Pride of Britain Awards in London.[166] On 19 March 2011 in Glasgow at the Scottish Variety Awards Boyle performed; the money raised was donated to Cash for Kids Charity.[167]
On 28 August 2013 Boyle travelled down with the Lothian Special Olympics Team to the Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer games in Bath.[168] In the evening she performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics GB at the Royal Crescent in Bath, England and also stayed to watch the events and hand out medals to the first day's winners.[169]
On 14 August 2013 it was announced that Boyle would sing at the Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice 30th Anniversary Variety Performance at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow on 27 October 2013.[170][171]
Community and faith
On 16 September 2010 Boyle sang at the Papal Mass performed for Pope Benedict XVI in Glasgow at Bellahouston Park in front of a crowd of 65,000.[172]
For three years Boyle has launched the Wee Box campaign for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) in Glasgow, on 9 March 2011,[173] on 21 February 2012,[174] and on 12 February 2013.[175]
In May 2012 it was reported that Boyle would become patron of the struggling Regal Theatre, Bathgate where she first performed "I Dreamed a Dream".[176]
On 24 October 2012 Boyle, together with the West of Scotland and Edinburgh Garrison Military Wives choirs, launched the Poppy Scotland appeal on the steps of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.[177][178]
Other
In January 2012, Boyle donated a performance dress, which she had worn on America's Got Talent on 31 August 2011, to The Laura McPhee Memorial Fund (Asthma) UK Charity. The dress was sold at auction for £521 and helped raise awareness of the charity.[179]
In July 2012 Boyle donated a performance dress designed by Suzanne Neville, which she had worn at performances in Madrid on the Ana Rosa Show on 12 February 2010 and in Paris on Vivement Dimanche on 17 February 2010. £6,523 was raised and presented to the Prince's Trust.[180]
Also in June 2013 Boyle donated for auction a performance dress which she had worn on The Oprah Show on 19 October 2010, with proceeds of the auction going to Metro Radio Newcastle England's Cash For Kids Campaign, with all funds raised going to disadvantaged kids across the region. The winning bid was £400.[181]
Prior to performing at the International Music Festival "White Nights of St. Petersburg", at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 13 June 2013, Boyle visited Children's Hospital Number 17 and presented to the hospital a gift of an anesthetic machine.[182][183]
It was announced 28 October 2013 that Boyle is a new ambassador for Save the Children UK. Boyle released a music video 8 December 2013 featuring children from the FAST program singing "O Come All Ye Faithful" with Elvis Presley. All royalties will go towards Save the Children UK and money raised in the US will be donated to the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation.[184]