She made her name by dreaming a dream but it appears Susan Boyle’s singing career is set to reawaken spectacularly in 2025 after a health nightmare.
Nearly three years ago, the songstress from Blackburn in West Lothian suffered a stroke which left her struggling to speak or sing.
Yesterday she spoke for the first time of her lengthy battle back to fitness – a devastating period which left her having to undergo arduous vocal training exercises.
Now the 63-year-old Scot says she is looking forward to one of the most exciting years of her life – there’s a forthcoming documentary, a drama and a cameo role in a Rupert Everett movie due for release next year.
She has even personally selected Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman to play her on screen, although it is understood her choice is still something of a pipe dream.
Ms Boyle said: ‘I’m back alright. I’m feeling OK and ready to go.
‘I had a major stroke and I’ve had to fight my way back. It’s taken me three years and it’s been hard – I’m not going to pretend otherwise – but it’s made me determined to keep going.’
Showing off the cheeky sense of humour she has become famous for, she joked: ‘Ye cannae keep an auld wummin doon!’
The singer made rare appearance during her recovery on Britain’s Got Talent last year
Susan Boyle rose to fame after appearing on the talent show in 2009
It’s 15 years since she was catapulted to world stardom by the TV show Britain’s Got Talent.
The album named after her breakthrough song I Dreamed a Dream became the world’s best-seller of 2009.
Ms Boyle also made UK music history by having three successive albums debut at No 1 in less than two years. To date, she has sold 25 million records.
Ms Boyle went on to achieve personal highlights such as singing for Pope Francis during the Vatican’s Christmas concert in 2019.
But her world came crashing down in April 2022 when a stroke left her unable to speak and sing properly, with significant muscular weakness down one side.
Having suffered one stroke, it meant she was vulnerable to another, so her management team had to carefully manage the pace of her return to public life.
There were intensive vocal coaching lessons, which helped restore her speech and singing voice.
Her remarkable recovery should be evident next year when she embarks upon a full schedule of singing engagements and a host of TV and film appearances.
Ms Boyle told STV’s Laura Boyd: ‘There’s a documentary and I’ve got a drama coming up. Hopefully, a tour – my feet won’t touch the ground, really.’
Speaking of the drama that’s in the pipeline, Ms Boyle said: ‘I don’t know who’s going to play me. I’d like Olivia Colman to play me. She’s a laugh as well and she seems like a happy kind of person.’
Ms Boyle is also happy to have landed a cameo in a new Rupert Everett movie due for release next year, proudly explaining: ‘I’m singing the song for it, too.’
Friends say it is lovely to see the star looking and sounding so well after an incredibly difficult period for her.
But they say she is used to handling life-changing moments, none more so than her I Dreamed a Dream moment 15 years ago.
It took her three minutes and 40 seconds to get a standing ovation from the astonished judges, a moment captured on a YouTube video which has 100 million hits.
Yet she only came second on the leading talent show. Recalling the period, she said: ‘It was overnight because one minute I was watching it with my brother, and the next, there were these screaming kids at the door.
‘I opened the door, and they were asking for my autograph.
‘It was a bit of a whirlwind because you never think you’re going to get anywhere, and then all of a sudden, bang!’
Meghan Markle’s affectionate nature reportedly caused discomfort among senior royals, including Prince William and Kate Middleton, leading to tension and whispers of flirting. Meghan’s warm gestures, such as frequent hugs, were misunderstood and allegedly deepened the rift between Prince William and Harry, as revealed in Tom Quinn’s book ‘Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants’.
Meghan Markle’s time with the royals was a tad more awkward than we all thought. Palace insiders are spilling the beans, claiming her hug-happy greetings with Prince William raised eyebrows and sparked whispers of flirting. In a new book, ‘Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants’ by journalist Tom Quinn, former royal staff members are dishing out the behind-the-scenes drama.
Meghan’s ‘hug everyone’ policy According to the book, via The Times, Meghan’s warm and tactile nature wasn’t adored by everyone in the palace, especially by Prince William, who supposedly felt a bit “uncomfortable” with all the hugging. Staffers recall her “hug everyone” policy leading to some tense situations with senior royals like Kate Middleton, Prince William, and even King Charles III.
The most talked-about bit is Meghan’s frequent hugs and kisses with Prince William. The book alleges that Meghan would greet William with a hug and kiss nearly every time they met, fueling gossip among the staff that she was flirting. Despite no evidence of anything romantic, this constant closeness reportedly created unease and a palpable tension.
Staff members have said that Kate, William, and even King Charles III would “flinch” when Meghan approached for a hug, visibly uncomfortable. This reportedly left Meghan “understandably hurt” and confused, as she intended to be warm and approachable, but her behaviour wasn’t quite hitting the mark with the royal family.
“The hugging and cheek-kissing fueled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William, which she was not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness deepened the rift between the brothers,” the book’s excerpt states.
Gossip caused a rift between Prince William and Harry? Upon joining the royal family, Meghan’s affectionate demeanour, including the hugs and cheek kisses, supposedly made some members feel uneasy. A royal insider told The Times that Markle’s outgoing nature was a stark contrast to William’s more reserved personality, sparking speculation about potential flirting. While sources also say Meghan’s gestures were innocent, the increased gossip reportedly worsened tensions between Prince William and Prince Harry. ‘She was obviously (flirting) not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers,’ claimed Mr Quinn.
In their Netflix docuseries, via Daily Mail UK, ‘Harry & Meghan’, Meghan Markle revealed she was taken aback by the royal family’s formality, which extends even behind closed doors. The actress explained that as an American, she’s naturally affectionate. She said, “’Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot.”
Markle said, “Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and think “OK we can relax now”. But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.”
Pop star Madonna has directed criticism at President Donald Trump’s administration days after he was inaugurated into office.
The singer, who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris in the recent election cycle, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday to share her thoughts on the new government, which has been in place since Trump’s January 20 swearing in ceremony.
“It’s so sad to watch our new Government slowly dismantling all the Freedoms we have been fighting for and WON over the years,” the “Express Yourself” hitmaker wrote, alongside red heart and LGBTQ pride flag emojis. “Don’t give up the Fight!”
As of press time, the post has garnered more than 4 million views. Newsweek has contacted a representative of Trump via email for comment.
In the days since he has taken office, Trump has rolled out a plethora of executive orders aimed at transgender people, immigrants and climate change policies, among other things.
Madonna’s comments about Trump mark the latest in a number of remarks she has made about the returning president.
Dating Claims
Several years before Trump made his first presidential run in 2016, it was claimed that Madonna was one of the “important, beautiful women” who had expressed romantic interest in the former host of The Apprentice.
The claim was shared with People in 1991 by a “John Miller,” who was described as a publicist for Trump. At the time, veteran columnist Cindy Adams listened to a recording of the interview and declared: “There is no John Miller. That’s Donald.”
Madonna addressed the claims in a 2019 interview with The New York Times, telling the newspaper that she recalled speaking with Trump on the phone in Florida.
Left, Madonna is pictured on September 15, 2016 in London, England. Right, President Donald Trump is seen in Washington, D.C., on January 21, 2025. Karwai Tang/WireImage;/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“I did a Versace campaign with [photographer] Steven Meisel at his house in Palm Beach,” she said, adding that Trump called her on a number of occasions. “He kept going: ‘Hey, is everything OK? Finding yourself comfortable? Are the beds comfortable? Is everything good? Are you happy?
What Madonna Has Said About Donald Trump
Pop star Madonna has directed criticism at President Donald Trump‘s administration days after he was inaugurated into office.
The singer, who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris in the recent election cycle, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday to share her thoughts on the new government, which has been in place since Trump’s January 20 swearing in ceremony.
“It’s so sad to watch our new Government slowly dismantling all the Freedoms we have been fighting for and WON over the years,” the “Express Yourself” hitmaker wrote, alongside red heart and LGBTQ pride flag emojis. “Don’t give up the Fight!”
It’s so sad to watch our new Government slowly dismantling all the Freedoms we have been fighting for and WON over the years. 🏳️🌈💔 Don’t give up the Fight! pic.twitter.com/6FiziYa2zM— Madonna (@Madonna) January 28, 2025
As of press time, the post has garnered more than 4 million views. Newsweek has contacted a representative of Trump via email for comment.
In the days since he has taken office, Trump has rolled out a plethora of executive orders aimed at transgender people, immigrants and climate change policies, among other things.
Madonna’s comments about Trump mark the latest in a number of remarks she has made about the returning president. Newsweek has taken a look at what the star has said about the onetime real estate mogul over the years.
Dating Claims
Several years before Trump made his first presidential run in 2016, it was claimed that Madonna was one of the “important, beautiful women” who had expressed romantic interest in the former host of The Apprentice.
The claim was shared with People in 1991 by a “John Miller,” who was described as a publicist for Trump. At the time, veteran columnist Cindy Adams listened to a recording of the interview and declared: “There is no John Miller. That’s Donald.”
Madonna addressed the claims in a 2019 interview with The New York Times, telling the newspaper that she recalled speaking with Trump on the phone in Florida.
Left, Madonna is pictured on September 15, 2016 in London, England. Right, President Donald Trump is seen in Washington, D.C., on January 21, 2025. Karwai Tang/WireImage;/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“I did a Versace campaign with [photographer] Steven Meisel at his house in Palm Beach,” she said, adding that Trump called her on a number of occasions. “He kept going: ‘Hey, is everything OK? Finding yourself comfortable? Are the beds comfortable? Is everything good? Are you happy?’”
Per The New York Times, Madonna described Trump has having a “weak character,” attributing it to his public image as an alpha male.
“They’re overcompensating for how insecure they feel—a man who is secure with himself, a human who is secure with themselves, doesn’t have to go around bullying people all the time,” Madonna said.
At the time of the interview, Trump was more than halfway through his first term as president. Sharing her political views, Madonna said that some of themes explored on her album Madame X explored her anger over world leaders like Trump “who seemed to be systematically removing all of our personal freedoms.”
“It felt like someone died,” she told Billboard. “It felt like a combination of the heartbreak and betrayal you feel when someone you love more than anything leaves you, and also a death. I feel that way every morning; I wake up and say, ‘Oh, wait, Donald Trump is still the president,’ and it wasn’t a bad dream that I had.”
“It feels like women betrayed us,” Madonna continued. “The percentage of women who voted for Trump was insanely high.”
Madonna further said that she had “gotten into major arguments” with people who had backed Trump, adding: “In a way, it makes sense that Donald Trump is the president. Because money rules. Not intelligence, not experience, not a moral compass, not the ability to make wise decisions, not the ability to think of the future of the human race.”
Sharing that she planned to take action, the star said: “I’m trying to figure out my response to Trump. I like the idea that women are marching on Washington, D.C., the day after the inauguration. I want to rain on his parade. I was put on this earth to fight for the underdog and fight against discrimination.”
‘Charismatic’
On a personal note, Madonna said that while she “wouldn’t call [Trump] a friend or anything,” she had “certainly met him,” mentioning the Versace campaign she shot at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.
“He’s a very friendly guy, charismatic in that boastful, macho, alpha-male way. I found his political incorrectness amusing,” she said of Trump. “Of course, I didn’t know he was going to be running for president 20 years later. People like that exist in the world, I’m OK with it. They just can’t be heads of state. I just can’t put him and [former President] Barack Obama in the same sentence, same room, same job description.”
The day after Trump first took office in 2017, Madonna sparked a backlash when she spoke at the anti-Trump Women’s March in Washington, D.C.
While addressing fellow protesters, the Michigan native said: “Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. But I know that this won’t change anything.”
In turn, Trump called the singer “disgusting,” as an army of his supporters rushed to condemn the remarks.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Madonna said that her comments had been taken “wildly out of context.”
“I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in its entirety rather than one phrase,” she wrote.
She went on to explain that she had attempted to share that there are two choices when it comes to responding to Trump’s election victory—with anger or hope. Madonna shared that she wanted to start a “revolution of love.”
Leaving Town
While Madonna didn’t name Trump directly, she told Vogue Italia in a 2018 interview that she had left the U.S. for Portugal, as she and her family “needed a change.”
“I wanted to get out of America for a minute—as you know, this is not America’s finest hour,” she explained.
In the days that followed the 2024 election, Madonna made it clear that she was unhappy with the result. Taking to Instagram, the mother of six shared a photo of a cake emblazoned with the words, “F*** Trump.”
A follow-up post shared on her Instagram Story alluded to the legal and civil trials that Trump had gone through, while also calling him a “bigot.”
“Trying to get my head around why a convicted felon, rapist, bigot was chosen to lead our country because he’s good for the economy?” Madonna wrote, per The Independent.
While Trump was last year found liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, neither verdict involved a finding of rape as defined under New York law.
Trump was last year ordered to pay Carroll $5 million after an initial lawsuit. In January, he was ordered to pay her $83.3 million on additional defamation claims. He is appealing both verdicts and has denied any wrongdoing.
Country music star is launching a new show about her fascinating and storied career
Dolly Parton’s fascinating and incredible life story is officially coming to Broadway, as the country music legend announced the world premiere of Dolly: An Original Musical.
The “Jolene” star, 79, told fans this week that her long-awaited musical will have its first production in her home state of Tennessee, as she revealed the moving reason why she was keen to stage it this year.
Speaking at a press conference in Nashville on Tuesday (28 January), she remarked: “Well, I ain’t getting no younger, but as I tell my husband [Carl Thomas Dean], I ain’t getting no older either.”
Parton, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, continued: “I’ve outlived so many plastic surgeons. But I actually have always wanted to do my life story as a musical.
“And I just thought that I wanted to see it done while I’m still around, to be able to oversee it and make sure that it’s done properly in a way that I would want to see it, rather than to wait ‘til I’m gone and let somebody else decide how they think it should be done.”
Previews of Dolly: An Original Musical will begin on 18 July, with a limited 8-17 August run taking place at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville.
Dolly Parton told the press about her plans for Dolly: An Original Musical (Getty Images)
The show will tell the story of how Parton went from one of 12 children raised in a one-room cabin in the Smoky Mountains to one of the world’s most successful stars, known as much for her towering blonde perm and jewel-encrusted outfits as for hit songs such as “9-5” and “I Will Always Love You”.
Parton already has a Tony Award nomination for composing the songs to her Broadway musical 9-5, which ran in Manhattan in 2009.A decade later, 9 to 5 was revamped for London’s West End, where it opened in 2019 before ending a year later.
As well as producing her new show, she has co-written the book with Emmy-winning producer Maria S Schlatter along with a number of original songs.In November last year she released a new album, Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables, which explored the legacy of the Partons and the Owens (her maternal family) through performances with five generations of family members.
“My grandpa used to say when I got famous, he said, ‘Well, she came out crying in the key of D,’” she told The Associated Press last year. “I think we all did.”“We’re kind of like the Carter family. We go back generations,” she said of her heritage, referring to how the Partons are widely considered the first family of country music.
“I would imagine this will be my favorite album,” she continued. “This really involves, you know, my grandmas and my grandpas, my uncles and my aunts and all the people going all the way back that had the biggest influence on my life. The ones that I remember from being little, and it even goes on farther back from there.”Tickets for Dolly: An Original Musical are on sale now.
Although her attendance has been uncertain in the lead-up to the Games, the 43-year-old’s decision to attend has finally been announced just hours before the opening ceremony at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Meghan’s decision to attend is thought to have been made due to her wish to be there in support her husband – as well as the mission of the Games. The Invictus Games were co-founded by Harry in 2014, with the first events taking place in London.
The Duchess of Sussex has been present at many events for the Games – which is an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel – since their relationship first came to light in 2017.According to HELLO!, family remains their top priority. The couple’s two children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, are thought to be staying at home in California.
The pair met at the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday, December 7. The landmark building was extensively damaged in a fire in April 2019, which required some 400 firefighters to extinguish the blaze. It destroyed much of its wooden interior and the spire.
“Prince William turned into a fanboy as soon as he saw President Trump,” BehizyTweets wrote. “The world knows the boss man is back.”
In the clip, the pair can be seen engaging in a brief conversation, with William smiling warmly as Trump pats the prince on the shoulder. An identical clip, posted by user BoLoudon, has been viewed a similar number of times.
During the reopening ceremony itself, Trump sat next to French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron. It was led by the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich, with more than 1,500 guests in attendance.
Following the ceremony, the prince and Trump met at the British Embassy in the French capital. They shook hands before doing a quick photo stop, during which Trump gestured to William and called him a “good man” before proceeding to have a 40-minute chat. They reportedly spoke about the importance of the U.S. – U.K. relationship and global issues.
According to the BBC, the president-elect described Prince William, who is first in line to the British throne, as doing a “fantastic job”. Kensington Palace described the meeting as “warm and friendly.”
Donald Trump (left) meets Britain’s Prince William on December 7, 2024, in Paris, France. The pair met at the reopening ceremony of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, five and a half years after a devastating… More AARON CHOWN – POOL/GETTY IMAGES/GETTY
According to a report by Sky News, the palace also said Trump “shared some warm and fond memories” with William about his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022 and was succeeded by her son, King Charles III, who is William’s father.
Trump and William last met in person in June 2019 during an official state visit of then President Trump to the U.K. He was guest of honor at a state banquet held at Buckingham Palace, hosted by Elizabeth and other royals, including William’s wife, Princess Kate. Trump was joined by his wife Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka, as well as her husband Jared Kushner.
Trump has fondly recalled his meetings with Elizabeth, whom he called “fantastic.” He has also offered well wishes to Charles following his cancer diagnosis
Speaking on Tucker Carlson‘s docu-series Art of The Surge, Trump said: “Hopefully he’s going to be well, because he’s a really good person. [Queen] Camilla is fantastic. You get to know them so well.”
