Susan Boyle biography
Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from . Her first album was released in November 2009 and debuted as the number one best-selling album on charts around the globe.
Global interest in Boyle was triggered by the contrast between her powerful mezzo-soprano voice and her plain appearance on stage. The juxtaposition of the audience's first impression of her, with the standing ovation she received during and after her performance, led to an international media and Internet response. Within nine days of the audition, videos of Boyle-from the show, various interviews and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River"-had been watched over 100 million times. Despite the sustained media interest she later finished in second place in the final of the show behind dance troupe Diversity.
Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009) remains as the UK best-selling debut album of all time, beating previous record holder, Spirit by Leona Lewis. I Dreamed a Dream is ranked fourth in its first week sales according to the Official Chart Company in the United Kingdom. The success was continued with her second album, The Gift (2010), and was followed by Boyle's third album, Someone to Watch Over Me, released on 31 October 2011.
Life and career
Early life and childhood
Boyle was raised in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, by her parents Patrick Boyle, a miner, World War II veteran and singer at the Bishop's Blaize, and Bridget, a shorthand typist, whose family comes from County Donegal, Ireland. She was the youngest of four brothers and five sisters. and was nicknamed "Susie Simple" at school.
After leaving school with few qualifications,
Early musical training and career
Boyle took singing lessons from voice coach Fred O'Neil. She has also 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
In 1999, she 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 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 "cemented her status" as a singing star.
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