Susan Boyle has been taking driving lessons… (Picture: Sandy Young/Getty)
Britain’s Got Talent legend Susan Boyle has revealed that driving lessons are a big part of her recovery regime after suffering a stroke.
The Scottish opera singer, 63, rose to fame in 2009 after auditioning for the third season of the ITV talent show and making it all the way to the live finals.
Her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, sold millions of copies around the world and is still one of the biggest-selling records of the entire 21st century.
Susan released six further albums, the last coming in 2016. Six years later, she revealed the shocking news that she’d suffered a stroke in April 2022.
Fearing she may never sing again, she has thankfully made a full recovery, and has set her sights on learning how to drive a car in her 60s.
‘I have had two lessons and I don’t know what I’ve been like but I’m surprised there hasn’t been any car crashes yet,’ she told The Times.
‘Sometimes you just feel overloaded with stress, so you need to take the pace down’ (Picture: Peter Kramer/NBCU/Getty)
Susan was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in 2012, and says driving coupled with piano lessons helps her through the day.
‘Sometimes you just feel overloaded with stress, so you need to take the pace down. I’m also learning the piano as well. I’ve been learning to play badly. I’ve been having lessons once a week.
‘My teacher is very nice. I go to her house for the lessons. Perhaps I’d like to be able to play and sing on stage but well that’s going to take a wee while.’
After the stroke, Susan was left unable to sing and the left side of her body was paralysed – the ordeal left the two-time Grammy nominee unsure as to whether she’d take to the stage again.
She’s only done a couple of driving lessons so far (Picture: Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Susan recorded seven albums after her BGT success (Picture: NBCUniversal/Getty)
She added: ‘I had to do a lot of exercise as my voice wasn’t 100 per cent, but I will keep working and training until it’s back to 100 per cent. I’ve still got about 25 per cent to recover.’
After hitting the big time on Britain’s Got Talent and becoming a household name around the world, Susan bought her late mum’s council house in Blackburn, West Lothian.
Susan finished second that year behind eventual winners Diversity – the dance troupe who proved more popular with the public that year.
However, Susan was a major success after the show and recorded seven albums between 2009 and 2016, with four of those albums reaching number one in her native Scotland.
Her success in the United States of America was unprecedented for a Britain’s Got Talent contestant, too, with her first two albums reaching number one there – they both sold over two millions copies.
After completing a commemorative tour, she returned to the Britain’s Got Talent final in 2023, duetting with X Factor alum Lucie Jones for I Dreamed A Dream – the Les Miserables song she sang at her famous audition.
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