Remember Susan Boyle?
In April 2009, Susan Boyle, age 48, stepped onto the Britain’s Got Talent stage. The audience snickered. Simon Cowell rolled his eyes. It’s clear they considered her old, timid, and frumpy.
Then she burst into “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. Her gorgeous voice instantly transformed the room. Amanda Holden later commented, “I honestly think we were all being very cynical and this is the biggest wake-up call ever.”
In a cruelty-driven reality TV market, Susan proved that age and looks have nothing to do with talent.
Susan placed second on Britain’s Got Talent, but her astonishing performance led to several firsts. To name just a few:
- November 2009—Susan released her first album, I Dreamed A Dream. Within six weeks it became the year’s biggest seller. Guinness Book declared her the oldest person in the UK to reach No. 1 with a debut.
- May 2010—Time named her the seventh most influential person in the world, fourteen places above President Obama.
- September 2010—Susan, a devout Catholic, performed for Pope Benedict on his British tour.
- November 2010—Her new album, The Gift, made her the third act to top both UK and US charts twice in one year. (The others were The Beatles and The Monkees.)
In 2013, Susan Boyle announced that she’d been diagnosed with Asperger’s. The challenges she’d endured throughout her life suddenly made sense. She said found the diagnosis “a relief.”
Susan Boyle’s Early Years
Susan was born in the small industrial town of Blackburn, Scotland on April 1st, 1961, the youngest of nine children. She experienced learning difficulties and was wrongly diagnosed as “brain-damaged.” The other children bullied her and called her “Susie Simple.”
Although she reported the taunts to her teachers, they didn’t act because it was “mostly verbal.” It affects Susan to this day. “Words often hurt more than cuts and bruises and the scars are still there.”
But the Asperger’s specialist discovered that her IQ was above average and helped her understand why she always felt different. “Asperger’s doesn’t define me…but I feel more relaxed about myself.”
As Susan got older, music became her refuge. But Blackburn had few opportunities to advance her talent. When she was 12, she joined her church choir. After leaving school, she sang karaoke and performed at a local hotel.
Working Hard for the Dream
Contrary to the hype, Susan Boyle wasn’t an overnight success. She worked her dream. She took voice lessons for six years and practiced scales like any other vocalist.
In 1999, she cashed in her savings to make a demo tape. She sent it to talent shows, record companies, local and national TV.
Susan tried out for My Kind of People, another British talent show, but the host just used her for comic relief. (Bet he regrets that.) It didn’t stop her. She continued auditioning and became a serial talent show failure.
The Dream Deferred
Susan was about to give up when her mother Bridget convinced her to audition for Britain’s Got Talent. Then Bridget became ill. Like many Later Bloomers, Susan put her dream on hold to care for her mother. She nursed Bridget until her death in 2007.
Susan had lived under her parents’ roof her entire life. Bridget’s death left her lonely and depressed. Her former voice coach finally convinced her to go for Britain’s Got Talent in her mother’s memory.
But Susan’s siblings discouraged her. One sister said, “You’re not going to Glasgow by yourself,” but didn’t offer to drive her. Susan caught six buses and made it on time.
That famous audition marked the first time since Bridget died that Susan sang in public. She was singing to the one person she knew believed in her:
I did the audition for [my mother] because she always wanted me to make something of my life, but I had to wait a bit because her death prevented me from singing for a while. I couldn’t put my heart into it.
Susan Boyle Today
In 2019, Susan released her eighth album, titled Ten to celebrate the decade since her Britain’s Got Talent debut. She tours regularly and performs at charity functions.
She still lives in Blackburn, where she owns two homes. She calls one the “posh house.” The other, her preferred refuge, is where she grew up.
On April 1, 2020, Susan celebrated her 59th birthday.
Susan Boyle reminds us that we’re never too old and dreams are never lost. They’re only deferred, and one person’s support can mean everything.
Below is the heart-warming reprise of Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent performance. And if you enjoyed this piece, you’ll love this story about Marta Becket: The Dancing Queen of Death Valley Who Reigned for 50 Years.
Sources
- The Daily Mail (on Susan’s early years)
- The Guardian UK (on her Asperger’s diagnosis)
- The Independent UK (on her voice coach)
- Harper’s Bazaar (on her mother—no longer online)