Susan Boyle fact file

Also known as: SuBo and The Woman Who Silenced Simon Cowell.

Occupation: Operatic pop singer, television personality.

Born: April 1 1961, Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland to Irish immigrants

Where and when playing York: York Barbican, March 23, 7.30pm. Sold out.

Musical education: Born to a musical family, she sang in school productions, encouraged by teachers. Susan was called “Simple Susan” by peers as a result of learning difficulties. No formal music lessons until singing tuition under Fred O’Neil from 2002.

First influence: After leaving school, Boyle worked in Lothian College kitchen. Went to theatre frequently, hearing I Dreamed A Dream in Les Miserables for the first time. “It took my breath away,” she said later.

First musical pitch for success: In 1995, she pooled her savings to audition in Glasgow for UK talent show My Kind Of People. Susan was rejected and her brothers reckoned the judges made the decision based on looks. Breakthrough: Urged by her coach to enter Britain’s Got Talent in 2008. Her Glagsow audition of I Dreamed A Dream became the most watched video on YouTube. Came second to dance group Diversity.

First single: I Dreamed A Dream.

First album: I Dreamed A Dream, November 2009. Sold two million copies worldwide and became fastest global-selling female debut album.

First Christmas album: The Gift, November 2010 Third album: Someone To Watch Over Me, November 2011.

Fourth album: Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs From The Stage, 2012. Susan apparently took piano lessons as she had planned on playing on the record.

Second Christmas album: Home For Christmas, October 2013; her third album to debut at number one.

Film: Susan starred in film based on Max Lucado’s novel, The Christmas Candle, 2013.

Susan in America: First album sold 701,000 copies in the US during first week. Entertainment journalists linked success to her story encompassing the “American dream”.

Awards: Two Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album, 2011, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2012. Named Scotland’s Favourite Musical Act in November 2013 at Scottish Music Awards, ahead of Emelie Sandé.

Total record sales: Five albums have sold 20 million worldwide. Not a lot of people know: Performed for Pope Benedict XVI during his 2010 tour of Britain.

Not a lot of people know too: Backing Better Together anti-Scottish independence campaign.

Coming up in 2014: Visiting York as part of UK tour of Susan Boyle In Concert in March and April.

Fiona “SuBoffin” Parker