Susan Boyle has admitted that her singing voice “still needs some work” as she spoke about her road to recovery after suffering a stroke. Susan catapulted to fame after her now-iconic 2009 Britain’s Got Talent audition, dazzling judges and viewers alike with her rendition of the Les Misérables classic I Dreamed a Dream.
Since then, SuBo has sold 25 million records and recently teamed up with ice cream brand Cornetto for a viral ad campaign — but disaster struck in 2022 when she suffered a major health scare.
The singer, from Blackburn in West Lothian, suffered a stroke which affected her voice. She spoke publicly about the condition when she returned to Britain’s Got Talent to perform at the live final in 2023.
Now, she’s opened up about the difficulties she faced during her recovery, revealing she underwent speech therapy and is taking “wee baby steps”, but remains confident her singing voice will return to what it was.
The Sun: “It feels surreal to be here now. I never thought I would be able to come this far. I’ve had a lot of encouragement, and the public have been so loving to me.
“I have had a lot of speech therapy. It was difficult at first, but after the first few weeks, my voice slowly started to come back. I have been having a lot of vocal lessons, too, for my singing.
“It still needs some work, but I am sure my singing voice will come back. I am taking wee baby steps. If you go too fast, too soon, you go down a hole. It took a while for my confidence to come back with my music. But I am getting there. Slowly.”
In 2023, marking 14 years since her initial audition, the Scot joined the cast of Les Misérables on stage during the BGT vote count.
She also performed I Dreamed a Dream with Les Mis star Lucie Jones.
She was asked how she felt to be back and replied: “It feels great. It is extra special for me actually because last April there, I suffered a minor stroke. I have fought like crazy to get back on stage. And I have done it.”
BGT head judge Simon Cowell said: “Susan, we owe you so much and I knew you weren’t well, but if anyone was going to come back you were going to come back because it wouldn’t be the same without you.”
In 2013, Susan, who reportedly believed she had slight brain damage at birth, was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism that can lead to difficulties with social situations and emotions.
Susan previously expressed to The Observer that she’d gained a “clearer understanding” of her health condition.
