Susan Boyle, the unexpected star from 'Britain's Got Talent'

'I Dreamed A Dream': that was the song launching Susan Boyle into stardom when she performed it at a 'Britain's Got Talent' audition in 2009. A lot has happened since, and life has not always been easy for the Scottish singer.

In June 2023, the 62-year-old artist revealed that she had suffered a stroke. Hardly anyone had known about it for almost a year. The stroke explained why she had been 'off the grid' for a while in 2022.

Susan Boyle told the public about her health issues after she performed 'I Dreamed A Dream' with the 'Les Miserables' cast during 'Britain's Got Talent's 2023 season finale.

She told the presenters, Ant and Dec, that it was "extra special for me actually," to perform in the show. "Last April there, I suffered a minor stroke," she explained, "and I thought it'd be crazy to be back on stage and I have done it."

The life of Susan Boyle truly turned 360. This is the incredible story of a woman who went from zero to hero and chose to go back to the humble life she had before - championing family values and the peaceful lifestyle that is paramount to the singer's health and well-being.

April 2009. An unknown woman shows up on the set of 'Britain's Got Talent' and introduces herself as Susan Boyle. The Scot looked a little older than her 47 years. In fact, her appearance in general was a talking point for months and even years to come. No one expected what came next.

Standing in front of her were two of the toughest judges in the history of television: Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan, accompanied by Amanda Holden. When asked what her dream was, Susan Boyle said, laughing and confident: "I want to be a professional singer."

Her answer received a mocking laughter from the audience as well as a member of the judging panel, too. Who would have thought they were about to see the birth of a global music star?

The tables turned in a matter of 10 seconds, which was the time it took Susan Boyle to start singing 'I Dreamed a Dream', one of the famous musical theatre tunes from the show 'Les Miserables'.

The jeers turned to thunderous silence. The thunderous silence was combined with tears and hairs standing on end. At the end of the performance, the audience broke into a thunderous ovation - the likes of which the talent show had never seen before.

Piers Morgan said what everyone at home was thinking: "When you came in, everyone was laughing. Now nobody's laughing because it was a fantastic performance".

Susan Boyle's voice had already gone viral. The life of this anonymous Scottish woman was about to change and, of course, she lost her anonymity at the click of a finger.

The audition video reached 100 million views in just 10 days. Today, it has more than 250 million. Funnily enough, however, Susan Boyle did not win that season of 'Britain's Got Talent', she came second behind the dance group 'Diversity'.

Diversity took the talent show, she took the glory. "I think I proved that it's not a bad thing to come second," she told Metro.

The same year (2009), she released 'I Dreamed a Dream', an album that sold 10 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of the year. Obviously, fame came hand in hand with an exposure that came at a perilous cost for Susan Boyle.

Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) at birth was said to have given Boyle brain damage, causing the difficulties she had overcome throughout her life. Her condition actually turned out to be Asperger's Syndrome. This disease is an autistic spectrum disorder that affects social relationships and can lead to anxiety and depression.

For this reason, she confessed, her classmates bullied her at school. Simply because she was not learning at the same pace, they called her 'Simple Susan'.

Luckily, music was always waiting for her at home. Her mother, Bridget, played the piano. Her father, Patrick, was a singer and from the age of 12, Susan Boyle had been putting her angelic voice to good use in the choir of the parish her family attended.

This gift for music led Susan to attend auditions and competitions from the age of 20, but she was never lucky. After the death of her parents - her mother died two years before she made the big time - she was left desolate. Without a job and with the quiet company of her cat, Pebbles.

Susan Boyle was never married and never had a relationship. "If I had met someone, it would have been platonic. I've been alone for too long to get married", she confessed in 'The Lady Magazine', where she acknowledged that she had never been kissed, nor had she had any physical relations. In fact, she did not have her first partner until six years later.

It seemed logical to think that such a radical change in her life, going from zero to hero, would overwhelm Susan Boyle. And that's exactly what happened. From the day of the final of the musical talent show, the singer had already noticed that something was not right.

Susan Boyle ended up in a mental health facility called The Priory, where her cat Pebbles was able to accompany her. Within weeks, Susan Boyle had gone from glory to nothing, but at least she was being treated. The diagnosis? Doctors diagnosed her with extreme exhaustion.

Susan Boyle was not ready for fame, and Asperger's Syndrome was an aggravating factor. Nevertheless, she was out and feeling better within a few days and was able to sing for Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth and Pope Benedict XVI.

With star status comes star dollar; and the money started to flow. The artist decided to buy a bigger house for £400,000. She didn't like it.

She was not looking for ostentation or luxury and ended up donating the house to her niece and returning to her parents' house, which she bought for £65,000. She wanted the tranquility of a recognisable place, where she could be alone with Pebbles.

The singer did, in fact, renovate the house and buy the one next door - keeping it homely but just a bit bigger. Boyle told OK! magazine: "It’s to do with the memories of your house and your upbringing, you need to take stock of things and maybe see where you come from and where your roots lie."

"I never wanted to be a diva. I live where I grew up, I don't need mansions, I like to take the bus and walk to the shop, to pick out my dinner," she told People in an interview.

To this day, Susan Boyle still lives in that house. Not only that, but she also continues to sing in her parish and uses her fortune, valued at 40 million dollars (£32 million), to help her extended family: eight siblings and 16 nieces and nephews.

The singer said, according to the Daily Mail, "I’m not a big spender, because for 47 years I didn’t have any money, so I like to save it for a rainy day." They reported she gave herself a strict allowance of around £300 a week to live.

But the singer has continued to work, albeit away from the spotlight and fame. Now at 62, she has released eight studio albums and sold 25 million records. Her debut album, 'I Dreamed A Dream' (2009), is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.