Biography
Early life
Susan Boyle was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, to Patrick Boyle, a miner, World War II veteran and singer at the Bishop's Blaize, and Bridget, a shorthand typist, who were both immigrants from County Donegal, Ireland. She was the youngest of four brothers and six sisters.
Born when her mother was 47, Boyle was briefly deprived of oxygen during the difficult birth and was later diagnosed as having learning difficulties. Boyle says she was bullied as a child and was nicknamed "Susie Simple" at school.
After leaving school with few qualifications, she was employed for the only time in her life as a trainee cook in the kitchen of West Lothian College for six months and took part in government training programs. She visited the theatre to listen to professional singers and performed at a number of local venues.
Early singing
Boyle took singing lessons from voice coach Fred O'Neil. She attended Edinburgh Acting School and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe. Prior to Britain's Got Talent, her main experience had come from singing in church and karaoke at pubs in her village. She had also auditioned several times for My Kind of People. She also has long participated in her parish church's pilgrimages to the Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland, and has sung there at the Marian basilica.
Her repertoire through the years has included songs such as "The Way We Were" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him." British tabloids claimed "exclusives" of video clips of some early performances. In 1995 her audition for Michael Barrymore's My Kind of People at the Olympia Shopping Centre in East Kilbride was filmed. The amateur video shows Barrymore was apparently more interested in mocking her.
In 1999 she recorded 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 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 and the New York Post said it showed that Boyle was "not a one trick pony." Hello! said the recording "cement[ed] her status" as a singing star.
In 1999, Boyle used all her savings to pay for a professional demo tape, copies of which she later sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national TV. The demo tape consisted of her versions of "Cry Me a River" and "Killing Me Softly.jpg)
with His Song", and was uploaded to the Internet after her audition.
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, and that she almost abandoned her plan to enter Britain's Got Talent. O'Neil persuaded her to audition despite her believing "...she was too old and that it was a young person's game". Boyle said that her mother's death motivated her to go on Britain's Got Talent and 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 then.
Personal life
Boyle still lives in the family home, a four-bedroom council house, with her 10-year-old cat, Pebbles.
Her father died in the 1990s, and her siblings had left home. Boyle never married, and she cared for her ageing mother until she died in 2007 at the age of 91, which meant that she never had any time for herself. 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 remains active as a volunteer at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Blackburn, visiting elderly members of the congregation in their homes.
Early life
Susan Boyle was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, to Patrick Boyle, a miner, World War II veteran and singer at the Bishop's Blaize, and Bridget, a shorthand typist, who were both immigrants from County Donegal, Ireland. She was the youngest of four brothers and six sisters.
Born when her mother was 47, Boyle was briefly deprived of oxygen during the difficult birth and was later diagnosed as having learning difficulties. Boyle says she was bullied as a child and was nicknamed "Susie Simple" at school.
After leaving school with few qualifications, she was employed for the only time in her life as a trainee cook in the kitchen of West Lothian College for six months and took part in government training programs. She visited the theatre to listen to professional singers and performed at a number of local venues.
Early singing
Boyle took singing lessons from voice coach Fred O'Neil. She attended Edinburgh Acting School and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe. Prior to Britain's Got Talent, her main experience had come from singing in church and karaoke at pubs in her village. She had also auditioned several times for My Kind of People. She also has long participated in her parish church's pilgrimages to the Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland, and has sung there at the Marian basilica.
Her repertoire through the years has included songs such as "The Way We Were" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him." British tabloids claimed "exclusives" of video clips of some early performances. In 1995 her audition for Michael Barrymore's My Kind of People at the Olympia Shopping Centre in East Kilbride was filmed. The amateur video shows Barrymore was apparently more interested in mocking her.
In 1999 she recorded 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 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 and the New York Post said it showed that Boyle was "not a one trick pony." Hello! said the recording "cement[ed] her status" as a singing star.
In 1999, Boyle used all her savings to pay for a professional demo tape, copies of which she later sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national TV. The demo tape consisted of her versions of "Cry Me a River" and "Killing Me Softly
with His Song", and was uploaded to the Internet after her audition.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, and that she almost abandoned her plan to enter Britain's Got Talent. O'Neil persuaded her to audition despite her believing "...she was too old and that it was a young person's game". Boyle said that her mother's death motivated her to go on Britain's Got Talent and 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 then.
Personal life
Boyle still lives in the family home, a four-bedroom council house, with her 10-year-old cat, Pebbles.
Her father died in the 1990s, and her siblings had left home. Boyle never married, and she cared for her ageing mother until she died in 2007 at the age of 91, which meant that she never had any time for herself. 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 remains active as a volunteer at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Blackburn, visiting elderly members of the congregation in their homes.
Post Talent
Hospital stay and BGT tour
“
I didn't pick up on any unduly troubling signs. She was nervous, yes, but no more nervous than Paul Potts had been before his live final two years previously. She understood the significance of the night.
Then, during the final show, at the crucial point when the dance group Diversity won, I looked over at her face and thought: 'Christ, she doesn't know how to deal with not winning.'
”
– Simon Cowell, Daily Mail
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, TalkbackThames 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. Cowell has 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 five days after her admission and said she would participate in the BGT tour. However, she refused to show up for rehearsals and the Daily Telegraph reported that Boyle wanted to perform only a small number of the scheduled 23 UK tour venues to "conserve her voice for her debut album."
Album and U.S. concert tour
Boyle's first album, I Dreamed A Dream, will be released on 23 November 2009. The album will include covers of "Wild Horses" (scheduled to be her first single) and "You'll See" as well as the songs "I Dreamed a Dream", "Memory" and "Cry Me a River". The album became Amazon.com's best-selling album in pre-sales, shortly after it became available. Boyle will give a U.S. concert tour in November as a lead-up to the album release.
Media impact
Web sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have been crucial in facilitating Boyle's rapid rise to fame: The most popular YouTube video submission of her audition garnered nearly 2.5 million views in the first 72 hours. On the day following the performance, the YouTube video was the most popular article on Digg. The same video was judged so popular on Reddit that it was put on the site's main page. Within a week, the audition performance had been viewed more than 66 million times, setting an online record, while on Wikipedia her biographical article attracted nearly half a million page views. A total of 103 million video views on 20 different Web sites was reached within nine days. 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".
Many newspapers around the world (including China, Brazil and the Middle East) carried articles on Boyle's performance. British tabloid The Sun gave her the nickname "Paula Potts" in reference to the first series' winner. In the U.S., several commentators also drew parallels between Boyle's performance and that of Paul Potts. ABC News hailed "Britain's newest pop sensation", and its Entertainment section headlined Boyle as "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell".
Within the week following her performance on Britain's Got Talent, Boyle was a guest on STV's The Five Thirty Show. She was interviewed via satellite on CBS's Early Show, Good Morning America, NBC's Today and on FOX's America's Newsroom. and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Via satellite on Larry King Live, Boyle performed an a cappella verse of "My Heart Will Go On". She was also portrayed in drag by Jay Leno, who joked that they were related through his mother's Scottish heritage.
Hospital stay and BGT tour
“
I didn't pick up on any unduly troubling signs. She was nervous, yes, but no more nervous than Paul Potts had been before his live final two years previously. She understood the significance of the night.
Then, during the final show, at the crucial point when the dance group Diversity won, I looked over at her face and thought: 'Christ, she doesn't know how to deal with not winning.'
”
– Simon Cowell, Daily Mail
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, TalkbackThames 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. Cowell has 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 five days after her admission and said she would participate in the BGT tour. However, she refused to show up for rehearsals and the Daily Telegraph reported that Boyle wanted to perform only a small number of the scheduled 23 UK tour venues to "conserve her voice for her debut album."
Album and U.S. concert tour
Boyle's first album, I Dreamed A Dream, will be released on 23 November 2009. The album will include covers of "Wild Horses" (scheduled to be her first single) and "You'll See" as well as the songs "I Dreamed a Dream", "Memory" and "Cry Me a River". The album became Amazon.com's best-selling album in pre-sales, shortly after it became available. Boyle will give a U.S. concert tour in November as a lead-up to the album release.
Media impact
Web sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have been crucial in facilitating Boyle's rapid rise to fame: The most popular YouTube video submission of her audition garnered nearly 2.5 million views in the first 72 hours. On the day following the performance, the YouTube video was the most popular article on Digg. The same video was judged so popular on Reddit that it was put on the site's main page. Within a week, the audition performance had been viewed more than 66 million times, setting an online record, while on Wikipedia her biographical article attracted nearly half a million page views. A total of 103 million video views on 20 different Web sites was reached within nine days. 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".
Many newspapers around the world (including China, Brazil and the Middle East) carried articles on Boyle's performance. British tabloid The Sun gave her the nickname "Paula Potts" in reference to the first series' winner. In the U.S., several commentators also drew parallels between Boyle's performance and that of Paul Potts. ABC News hailed "Britain's newest pop sensation", and its Entertainment section headlined Boyle as "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell".
Within the week following her performance on Britain's Got Talent, Boyle was a guest on STV's The Five Thirty Show. She was interviewed via satellite on CBS's Early Show, Good Morning America, NBC's Today and on FOX's America's Newsroom. and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Via satellite on Larry King Live, Boyle performed an a cappella verse of "My Heart Will Go On". She was also portrayed in drag by Jay Leno, who joked that they were related through his mother's Scottish heritage.
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