At the age of 48, Susan Boyle shot to international fame after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent. Within nine days of the audition, videos of Susan — from the show, various interviews and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River" — had been watched over 100 million times. To date, her audition video has been viewed on the internet over 347 million times.

After leaving school with few qualifications, she was employed for the only time in her life as a trainee cook in the kitchen of West Lothian College for six months. She took part in government training programmes and performed at a number of local venues. On a 2010 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Boyle summarised that her daily life was "mundane" and "routine" prior to stardom.

Everyone out there today is a Susan Boyle. Everyone has hopes and dreams. Do we do whatever we can in our powers to make this a reality for young people with learning difficulties now?.......... Or do we accept “mundane” and “routine daily lives, perhaps, forever more?

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