Susan Boyle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Boyle
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Boyle in November 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Susan Magdalane Boyle |
| Born | 1 April 1961 Dechmont, West Lothian, Scotland |
| Origin | Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland |
| Genres | Operatic pop |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | |
Susan Magdalane Boyle (born on April 1, 1961) is a talented Scottish singer. She became famous in 2009 after appearing on the TV show Britain's Got Talent. She surprised everyone by singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les Misérables.
Susan Boyle has sold over 25 million records worldwide. Her first album, I Dreamed a Dream (released in 2009), sold more than 10 million copies. It was one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. In 2011, she made history as the first female artist to have three albums debut at number one in less than two years in the UK.
Her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, became the fastest-selling debut album ever in the UK. It also set a record for first-week sales. Susan's success continued with her second album, The Gift (2010). She was one of only three artists to have two different albums top both the UK and US charts in the same year. She then released more albums like Someone to Watch Over Me (2011), Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage (2012), and Home for Christmas (2013).
In 2012, Susan performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. She also sang at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in front of the Queen. In 2019, Susan Boyle celebrated ten years in music with a special album called Ten and a concert tour.
Contents
Susan Boyle's Journey to Stardom
Early Life and Discovering Her Talent
Susan Boyle grew up in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland. Her father, Patrick Boyle, was a miner. Her mother, Bridget, was a typist. Susan was the youngest of nine children. For many years, she believed she had a learning disability due to a difficult birth. However, in 2012–2013, she learned she was actually on the Autism spectrum and had an above-average IQ. Susan has shared that she was bullied when she was a child.
After school, Susan took part in government training programs. She also performed at local places. She took singing lessons from a vocal coach named Fred O'Neil. She also attended Edinburgh Acting School and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Susan often sang at her church's pilgrimages in Ireland.
In 1998, Susan recorded three songs using all her savings. She sent these recordings to record companies and TV shows. In 1999, she contributed a song to a charity CD. An early review praised her "heartbreaking" singing.
Susan won several local singing competitions. Her mother encouraged her to try out for Britain's Got Talent. Susan almost didn't go, thinking she was too old. But her coach persuaded her. She wanted to honor her mother, who had recently passed away. Her audition on the show was her first public performance since her mother's death.
Becoming a Star on Britain's Got Talent
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In August 2008, Susan Boyle applied for Britain's Got Talent. She was accepted after a first audition. When she appeared on the show in April 2009, she said she wanted to be a professional singer like Elaine Paige. Susan sang "I Dreamed a Dream" in the first round. Over 10 million people watched her performance. The judges and audience were amazed by her voice. Judge Amanda Holden said it was the "biggest wake-up call ever."
Susan was very surprised by how people reacted to her performance. Elaine Paige even said she wanted to sing a duet with Susan. Susan's performance also made ticket sales for Les Misérables musicals go up.
Susan made it to the semi-finals. She sang "Memory" from the musical Cats. She received the most public votes and went to the final. Many people thought she would win. However, she came in second place to the dance group Diversity. The final show was watched by a record 17.3 million viewers in the UK.
After the final, Susan was very tired and emotionally drained. She was admitted to a private clinic for a short time. Many people, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, wished her well. Despite health concerns, Susan joined the Britain's Got Talent tour. She performed in many cities and was very well received.
First Album Success and Continued Music Career
Susan Boyle's first album, I Dreamed a Dream, was released in November 2009. It included songs like "Wild Horses" and "I Dreamed a Dream." In Britain, it became the fastest-selling UK debut album of all time. It sold over 411,000 copies in its first week.
In the US, the album sold 701,000 copies in its first week. This was the best opening week for a new artist in over ten years. It stayed at the top of the Billboard chart for six weeks. It was one of only two albums to sell over 3 million copies in the US in 2009. Worldwide, it sold over 2 million copies in just one week, becoming the fastest-selling female debut album globally.
In December 2009, Susan had her own TV special called "I Dreamed a Dream: the Susan Boyle Story." It featured a duet with Elaine Paige. The show was watched by 10 million people in the UK. In 2010, Time magazine named Susan Boyle the seventh most influential person in the world. She also performed for Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Britain in 2010.
More Albums and Acting Roles
In July 2010, Susan announced her second album, a Christmas album called The Gift. It was released in November 2010. By November 2010, The Gift reached the top of both the UK and US album charts. This made Susan the first woman to have two different albums reach number one in both charts in less than a year. Her third album, Someone To Watch Over Me, was released in 2011.
Susan released her fourth album, Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage, in November 2012. She even took piano lessons for the album. In October 2012, famous opera singer Placido Domingo released an album that included a duet with Susan. They sang "From This Moment On."
Susan Boyle made her first acting appearance in the film The Christmas Candle in 2013. She played a character named Eleanor Hopewell. The movie is about a village in England that needs a miracle. Susan sang an original song, "Miracle Hymn," for the film. Her album Home for Christmas also featured a duet with Elvis Presley singing "O Come All Ye Faithful."
Later Albums and America's Got Talent: The Champions
Susan released her sixth album, Hope, in 2014. The album's theme is hope and inspiration. It includes classic songs and uptempo tracks. Susan said she enjoyed making the album and wanted to show different styles of music. Hope became her sixth album to reach the top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. It spent 35 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Inspirational Albums chart.
After Hope, Susan took a break in 2015. In 2016, she released her seventh album, A Wonderful World. In 2018, Susan competed on America's Got Talent: The Champions. She said she wanted to win this time. She sang "Wild Horses" and received a "golden buzzer" from judge Mel B, sending her straight to the finals. In the finals, she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" again, but she did not finish in the top five.
Ten Album and Recent Activities
Susan Boyle's first collection album, Ten, was released in May 2019. It includes a duet with Michael Ball called "A Million Dreams." In August 2019, Susan performed on America's Got Talent. Her English version of the Japanese folk song "Wings To Fly" was played during the dove release at the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2021.
In March 2020, Susan began her second tour, "The Ten Tour." She was excited to perform songs that fans might not expect. However, many dates on the tour were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Susan has kept a lower profile since 2019. In 2023, she shared that she had a minor stroke in 2022.
Susan Boyle's Impact
How Media Helped Her Fame
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Websites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter were very important in Susan Boyle's quick rise to fame. Her audition video on YouTube got almost 2.5 million views in just three days. Within a week, it had been viewed over 66 million times, setting a new online record. Her Wikipedia page also received nearly half a million views. In total, her videos were watched over 103 million times on 20 different websites in nine days.
Her audition was named the most-watched YouTube video of 2009, with over 120 million views. Many newspapers around the world wrote articles about her. The British press started calling her 'SuBo'. In the US, people compared her success to that of Paul Potts, another Britain's Got Talent star. ABC News called her "Britain's newest pop sensation."
Susan Boyle was interviewed on many TV shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live. Even though she wasn't eligible for the 2010 Grammy Awards, the host Stephen Colbert honored her. He joked that she saved the music industry.
Stage Musical About Her Life
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A stage musical about Susan Boyle's life was created, called I Dreamed a Dream. It opened in March 2012. Actress Elaine C. Smith played Susan, and Susan herself made a special appearance in some shows. The musical received good reviews and toured the UK and Ireland.
Susan said it felt "surreal" to see her life story on stage. She later found it "clever and amusing." There are also plans to make a film version of the musical.
Lessons from Her Story
Many people felt that Susan Boyle's story taught an important lesson: don't judge people by how they look. Her initial appearance made judges and the audience expect less from her. But her amazing singing proved them wrong. This contrast made her performance very powerful.
Susan herself said, "Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances... But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example." Her success was seen as a victory for talent over looks. It also showed that older women can achieve great things in a culture that often focuses on youth.
Her story also resonated strongly in the United States. Many saw it as an "American Dream" story, where talent can overcome difficulties and poverty. It was seen as a fairy tale where someone unexpected becomes a star.
Susan Boyle's Personal Life
Susan Boyle still lives in her childhood home in Blackburn, West Lothian. She bought the house with her earnings. She has never married. She cared for her mother until her mother passed away in 2007. Susan is a practicing Catholic and sings in her church choir. She also volunteers at her church, visiting older members. Before becoming famous, Susan described her daily life as "mundane" and "routine."
In 2012, Susan was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which is a type of autism. She shared this publicly in 2013. She also has epilepsy. In 2013, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In 2014, it was reported that she was dating her first boyfriend. In 2022, she had a minor stroke, which she shared publicly in 2023.
Helping Others: Susan Boyle's Charity Work
Charity Performances
Susan Boyle has used her fame to help many charities. In 2010, she sang on the charity song "Everybody Hurts" to help victims of the Haiti earthquake. She also performed at a charity gala in Denmark for Haiti and Africa.
She has appeared on major UK charity TV shows many times. She sang for Sport Relief in 2010 and for Comic Relief in 2011, where she sang a duet with Peter Kay. She has also performed for BBC Children in Need five times.
In 2010, Susan performed at the Pride of Britain Awards in London. In 2011, she performed at the Scottish Variety Awards, raising money for the Cash for Kids Charity. In 2013, she performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer games in Bath, England. She also handed out medals to the winners.
Community and Faith Support
In 2010, Susan Boyle sang at a Papal Mass for Pope Benedict XVI in Glasgow. Over 65,000 people were there. For several years, she has launched the Wee Box campaign for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) in Glasgow.
In 2012, Susan became a patron of the Regal Theatre in Bathgate, where she first performed "I Dreamed a Dream." In 2012, she also helped launch the Poppy Scotland appeal with military wives' choirs.
Other Charitable Contributions
Susan has donated several of her performance dresses to charity auctions. In 2012, a dress she wore on America's Got Talent was auctioned for £521 to help an asthma charity. Another dress she wore in Madrid and Paris was auctioned for £6,523 for the Prince's Trust. In 2013, a dress she wore on The Oprah Winfrey Show was auctioned for £400 for a children's charity.
Before performing in Russia in 2013, Susan visited Children's Hospital Number 17. She gave the hospital a gift of an anesthetic machine. In October 2013, Susan became a new ambassador for Save the Children UK. She released a music video featuring children singing "O Come All Ye Faithful" with Elvis Presley. All the money from royalties goes to Save the Children UK and the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation.
Susan Boyle's Albums
- I Dreamed a Dream (2009)
- The Gift (2010)
- Someone to Watch Over Me (2011)
- Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage (2012)
- Home for Christmas (2013)
- Hope (2014)
- A Wonderful World (2016)
Concert Tours
- Susan Boyle in Concert (2013–2014)
- Ten Tour (2019–2020)
Awards and Nominations
Susan Boyle has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. In 2011, she was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for I Dreamed a Dream. In 2012, she was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for The Gift. She won Best New Artist International at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in 2010. In 2011, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Scottish Variety Awards. In 2013, she won the Fans Choice Award at the Scottish Music Awards.
See also
In Spanish: Susan Boyle para niños
