Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961)Scottish genealogist Caroline Gerard found her official birth entry at New Register House in Edinburgh Susan Boyle's Astrology Horoscope is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 as a contestant on the third series of the television talent competition Britain's Got Talent, where she finished as runner-up. Following the show, Boyle was signed to Syco Music in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States.
Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009), became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time and set a record for first-week sales by a debut album. In her first year of fame, Boyle made £5 million (£ million today) with the release of I Dreamed a Dream and its lead-off singles, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Wild Horses". The success continued with her second album, The Gift (2010), where she became only the third act ever (and the first female artist) to top both the UK and US album charts with two different albums in the same year. In 2011, she released her third album, Someone to Watch Over Me (2011), and released a cover version of "I Know Him So Well" with Geraldine McQueen. The following year, Boyle released a version of "The Winner Takes It All" as the lead single from her fourth album, Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage (2012).
Boyle's life and success was the subject to the musical theatre production I Dreamed a Dream: The Musical (2012). She recorded a posthumous duet with Elvis Presley, "O Come, All Ye Faithful" for her Christmas themed album, Home for Christmas (2013). Following the release of her sixth album, Hope (2014), and her seventh album, A Wonderful World (2016), Boyle took a hiatus. In 2019, for her ten-year anniversary for her career, she launched a compilation album titled Ten together with a tour. During this period, Boyle continued to keep a low profile amongst health concerns and complications, including suffering a stroke in 2022. In 2025, Boyle returned to the recording studio and announced her comeback.
Considered a "significant figure in the music industry" and one of the most successful recording artists of the 21st century, Boyle's accolades include two Grammy Award and Billboard Music Award nominations, a World Music Award, a Japan Gold Disc Award, a Scottish Music Award and the recipient of three Guinness World Records. , she had sold over 25 million records worldwide. , her estimated net worth was £22 million ($29.5 million).
Early life Boyle grew up in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland. Her father, Patrick Boyle, was a miner and veteran of World War II and her mother Bridget was a shorthand typist. Both of her parents were born in Motherwell, Scotland, but also had family links to County Donegal in Ireland. Born when her mother was aged 45 years, she was the youngest of four brothers and five sisters. She grew up thinking that she had been briefly deprived of oxygen during a difficult birth resulting in a learning disability. However, she was told in 2012–13 that she had been misdiagnosed and is on the autism spectrum with an IQ "above average". She says she was bullied as a child. After leaving school with few qualifications, she took part in government training programmes, and performed at local venues.
Career Early training and career (1998–2008)
Boyle took singing lessons from vocal coach Fred O'Neil. She attended Edinburgh Acting School and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe. She also long participated in her parish church's pilgrimages to the Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland, and sang there at the Marian basilica. In 1995, she auditioned for Michael Barrymore's My Kind of People.
In 1998, Boyle recorded three tracks—"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 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.
In 1999, Boyle submitted a track for a charity CD to commemorate the Millennium 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..." 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.
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. Boyle said that she was motivated to seek a musical career to pay tribute to her mother. Her performance on the show was the first time she had sung in public since her mother died.
Britain's Got Talent (2008–2009)
In August 2008, Boyle applied for an audition for the third series of Britain's Got Talent (as contestant number 43212) and was accepted after a preliminary audition in Glasgow. When Boyle first appeared on Britain's Got Talent at the city's Clyde Auditorium, she said that she aspired to become a professional singer "as successful as Elaine Paige". Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the first round, which was watched by over 10 million viewers when it aired on 11 April 2009. Programme judge Amanda Holden remarked upon the audience's initially cynical attitude and the subsequent "biggest wake-up call ever" upon hearing her performance.
Boyle was "absolutely gobsmacked" by the strength of the reaction to her audition. Afterwards, Paige expressed interest in singing a duet with Boyle, and called her "a role model for everyone who has a dream". Boyle's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" was credited with causing a surge in ticket sales in the Vancouver production of Les Misérables. Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of the musical, also praised the performance, as thrilling and uplifting".
Boyle was one of 40 acts that were put through to the semi-finals. She appeared last on the first semi-final on 24 May 2009, performing "Memory" from the musical Cats. In the public vote, she was the act to receive the highest number of votes to go through to the final. She was the clear favourite to win the final, but ended up in second place to dance troupe Diversity; the UK TV audience was a record of 17.3 million viewers.
The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) became concerned by press reports about Boyle's erratic behaviour and speculation about her mental condition and wrote to remind editors about clause 3 (privacy) of their code of press conduct. The day after the final, Boyle was admitted to The Priory, a private psychiatric clinic in London. Talkback Thames explained, "Following Saturday night's show, Susan is exhausted and emotionally drained." Her stay in hospital attracted widespread attention, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown wishing her well. Simon Cowell offered to waive Boyle's contractual obligation to take part in the BGT tour. Her family said "she's been battered non-stop for the last seven weeks and it has taken its toll [...but...] her dream is very much alive", as she had been invited to the Independence Day celebrations at the White House.
Boyle left the clinic three days after her admission and said she would participate in the BGT tour. Despite health concerns, she appeared in 20 of the 24 dates of the tour, and was well received in cities including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dublin, Sheffield, Coventry, and Birmingham. The Belfast Telegraph stated that "Despite reports of crumbling under the pressure..., she exuded a confidence resembling that of a veteran who has been performing for years".
I Dreamed a Dream and breakthrough (2009–2010)
Boyle's first album, I Dreamed a Dream, was released on 23 November 2009. The album includes covers of "Wild Horses" and "You'll See" as well as "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Cry Me a River". In Britain, Boyle's debut album was recognised as the fastest selling UK debut album of all time selling 411,820 copies, beating the previous fastest selling debut of all time, Spirit by Leona Lewis. I Dreamed a Dream also outsold the rest of the top 5 albums combined in its first week.
In the US, the album sold 701,000 copies in its first week, the best opening week for a debut artist in over a decade. It topped the Billboard chart for six straight weeks and although it narrowly failed to become the best-selling album of 2009, with sales of 3,104,000 compared to 3,217,000 for Taylor Swift's Fearless, it was one of only two albums to sell over 3 million copies in the US that year. It was also the top-selling "physical" album of 2009, with only 86,000 of its sales coming from digital downloads. This in turn garnered more media attention, as mentioned by People magazine. In only a week, it sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling global female debut album.
In November 2009, it was reported that Boyle's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" would be the theme song of the anime movie Eagle Talon The Movie 3, which was released in Japan on 16 January 2010. Boyle performed for Pope Benedict XVI on his tour of Britain in 2010. On 13 December 2009 she appeared in her own television special I Dreamed a Dream: the Susan Boyle Story, featuring a duet with Elaine Paige. It got ratings of 10 million viewers in the United Kingdom and in America was the TV Guide Network's highest rated television special in its history. In May 2010, Boyle was voted by Time magazine as the seventh most influential person in the world. Boyle's original song "Who I Was Born to Be" was the theme song of anime film Welcome to the Space Show, which opened in Japan on 26 June 2010.
Global dominance, acting and tour (2010–2014)
On 9 July 2010, Boyle announced that her second album would be a Christmas album titled The Gift. As part of the lead-up to the album, she held a competition called Susan's Search, the winner of which sang a duet with her on her new record. The album was released on 8 November 2010.
The album was produced by Steve Mac, who said that "Now Susan's used to the studio and the recording process, this time round we might go even further down a traditional route of recording by getting a band together and rehearsing songs before we go into the studio to see what works, how she reacts with certain parts, and so we can change the arrangements that way. I think that's going to work much better....With Susan it's very important she connects with the public and the public connect with her. She doesn't want to sing anything that hasn't happened to her or she can't relate to."
In October 2010, Boyle's autobiography The Woman I Was Born to Be – My Story was published. By November 2010, The Gift reached the top of both the UK and US album charts. This made Boyle the first woman and third ever performer to reach the top of both charts for two different albums in less than a year.. The others are the Beatles and Monkees. On 30 November 2010, in the United States, Boyle performed on ABC's The View singing "O Holy Night" and then on NBC's Christmas at Rockefeller Center programme performing "Perfect Day" and "Away in a Manger". Boyle performed on the second semi-final results show of the sixth season of America's Got Talent, which aired on 31 August 2011. Her third studio album, Someone to Watch Over Me, was released the same year.