Where Is Susan Boyle Now? All About the Singer's Life 14 Years After Her Britain's Got Talent Audition

Susan Boyle won the hearts of viewers from the U.K. and beyond after her Britain’s Got Talent audition in April 2009.

Boyle, who was 47 at the time, sang “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Misérables for her season 3 audition in what has been described by BGT as “one of the most unforgettable auditions” in the show’s history. Her performance shocked both the audience and judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, and she went on to be part of the 40 semifinalists.

Well over a decade after Boyle’s audition, Cowell and America’s Got Talent host Terry Crews reflected on the moment in a July 2023 video shared on YouTube. Cowell noted that he would “never forget” the moment, telling Crews, “I was having a terrible, terrible day and I remember saying, ‘I really, really hope she’s not gonna sing,’ because there were so many bad singers that day and I thought, ‘I just can’t take another one.’ "

Though Cowell said the group of judges had low expectations for Boyle’s audition, he said the singer was “the perfect example of ‘never judge a book by its cover.’ ” Cowell noted to Crews that Boyle ultimately “changed the rule book” for the show, explaining, “She came on this show and everything changed because up until that point ... there was a perception that you had to look this way or be this age.”

Looking back on her career at the decade mark in April 2019, Boyle told PEOPLE that the “biggest surprise” was that she was still going 10 years later. She explained, “Fame is such a bizarre concept and has never been my motivator. I just want to sing for people and give them joy, happiness, suspend reality for a brief time and entertain.”

“For the first few years that was a constant worry I had, that this dream, this amazing journey that I was on, and I worried it would disappear overnight,” Boyle said. “You hear the cliché ‘five minutes of fame’ and I kept thinking to myself, well my five minutes must surely be up, but 10 years on, and I’m still going, which is probably as much a shock to me as everyone else.”

Here’s everything to know about Susan Boyle and where she is now.

Who is Susan Boyle?

Boyle is a singer who hails from Blackburn, West Lothian in Scotland. Prior to auditioning for BGT, Boyle pursued music on her own, telling The Guardian in April 2009 that she comes “from a musical family” and has been singing since she was 12, including participating in productions at school.

She went on to study at the Edinburgh Acting School and was part of the performance arts festival, Edinburgh Fringe. She also appeared on television on the ITV program My Kind of People “for fun” and performed locally, though her career never quite took off as she had planned.

After taking time away from singing to care for her late mother, who died in 2007, Boyle was inspired to audition for BGT after watching Paul Potts compete and go on to stardom. First, she attended an audition in Glasgow before she was sent for her second audition in front of the cast of judges, Cowell, Morgan and Holden.

"I expected people to be a wee bit cynical," Boyle told The Guardian. "But I decided to win them round. That is what you do. They didn't know what to expect. Before Britain's Got Talent, I had never had a proper chance. It's as simple as that. You just have to keep going and take one step at a time and one day you will make it. You just don't give up."

Did Susan Boyle win Britain’s Got Talent?

After Boyle’s famed audition, she was among the 40 performers who moved onto the semifinals of the show. However, her journey on BGT was not without its difficult moments.

Due to unwavering attention from the press and paparazzi, Boyle went into hiding, but she pulled through so as to not “throw away my big chance now.”

In the first semifinal round of the show, she performed “Memory” from Cats. The Scottish singer would eventually make it to the finale, but came in second place after the dance group Diversity.

What happened to Susan Boyle’s career after Britain’s Got Talent?

Boyle was a sensation across the globe the moment her audition video hit the internet. In April 2009, she had what was billed as her “first U.S. performance” on The Early Show on CBS where she sang “I Dreamed a Dream” and received praise from Patti LuPone.

By November 2009, she was back promoting her music in the United States, this time appearing on NBC’s Today show to promote her debut studio album, named after the iconic Les Misérables tune.

She reflected on the “instant fame” she experienced after the talent competition in a January 2019 interview with PEOPLE, explaining that she went “from being a wee unknown lady with a cat in Scotland to being recognized wherever I went.”

“I really didn’t comprehend just how far the audition clip had gone!” she added. “Back in 2009 I said all my life I had been an outsider looking in and now I get to be a part of it, and that stands true today.”

Boyle has gone on to release eight studio albums throughout the course of her career, including her debut, The Gift in 2010, Someone to Watch Over Me in 2011, Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage in 2012, Home for Christmas in 2013, Hope in 2014, A Wonderful World in 2016 and Ten in 2019.

She’s also toured on several occasions, including with fellow finalists of BGT in 2009, as well as her 2013 to 2014 tour “Susan Boyle in Concert.”

Outside of music, Boyle released her autobiography The Woman I Was Born To Be: My Story in 2010. She also has a few acting credits to her name, including 2013’s The Christmas Candle and a cameo on BBC’s River City in 2021.

Did Susan Boyle win America’s Got Talent: The Champions? 

Since her first round on the show, Boyle has returned to the BGT stage and made appearances on its United States counterpart, America’s Got Talent, over the years.

Boyle went on to compete again on television in 2019’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions. She said that coming second place in 2009 was an “unfulfilled promise” and she was looking forward to showing Cowell “how much I’ve grown since the last time he saw me.”

After singing “Wild Horses” for her audition song, which she previously sang on BGT, she received the Golden Buzzer from Mel B. Boyle’s finals performance included another throwback, with the singer performing “I Dreamed A Dream” once again.

Over the years, Boyle has sung the Broadway hit on several occasions. She shared her reasoning for reprising the song once again with PEOPLE in August 2019, explaining, “It’s something I can relate to. It’s about a lady who, more or less, was left on her own with nothing. Lots was taken away from her and she had to rebuild her life again.”

Despite making it as a finalist as a top 12 contestant on Champions, Boyle was not crowned the winner of the inaugural season. Though she didn’t win, Boyle had a positive outlook about the results, telling PEOPLE, “I’m so fortunate that I have a great career to go back to.”

“Of course, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but also deep down I didn’t think I would win,” she added. “Secretly you hold out hope that you just might because that’s what drives you to do your best in a competition. I’ve never really considered myself a champion, I’m just me, Susan Boyle.”

Where is Susan Boyle now?

Outside of her music career, Boyle has opened up about her personal life since achieving worldwide fame.

In 2013, she revealed her diagnosis with autism spectrum disorder, previously called Asperger’s syndrome, and how it affected her life and career. The following year, Boyle opened up about her love life, sharing that she was dating her first boyfriend, a doctor she met while on tour.

She’s also been candid about her love of kids. On a podcast in June 2019, she spoke about her desire to start a family and her regrets about not having kids of her own. Boyle explained, “Well, when things quiet down a bit I would like to maybe go at fostering.”

Boyle has faced other health struggles in recent years as well. In April 2022, she suffered a stroke, which she opened up about in June 2023 after appearing on BGT. At the time, Boyle said her performance felt “great,” adding, "It is extra special for me actually because last April there I suffered a minor stroke."

On social media, she shared more details about her health scare the prior year and how she’s worked to recover in the year since. She wrote in part, “For the past year I have worked so hard to get my speech and singing back, with the sole aim of being able to sing on stage again.”

As for her career, Boyle is still drawn to the stage, which is what she refers to as her “happy place.” She told PEOPLE in January 2019, “I get great enjoyment making the audience happy. My career has never been about earning money or really even chart positions, I just love to be on stage and singing.”

In regards to how she has handled her fame, she said that she is “regular Susan Boyle” when she is home and doesn’t ever want to “become a diva.”