Susan Boyle is ready to conquer America.
The Grammy-nominated singing sensation, who burst to fame after singing “I Dreamed a Dream” on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, will undertake a 21-date U.S. tour to begin Oct. 8 in San Diego at the Balboa Theatre before hitting the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara the following night and the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco on Oct. 11. The tour wraps on Nov. 6 at the Times-Union Center’s Moran Theater in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Said Boyle, “This is a brilliant moment for me. The past five years have been incredible, and it just keeps getting better. I have spoken so often about wanting to tour America and be able to visit different cities for the first time — I’m so excited. This really will be fantastic, and I can’t wait for October. The U.S. embraced and supported me from the beginning, and it really feels like a second home, so I can’t wait to get on the road and perform there.”
Susan Boyle previously undertook sold-out Scottish and U.K. tours in 2013 and 2014, and begins the first part of her AEG Live-promoted world tour in the States.
The ultimate left-field success story, Boyle’s only previous show business experience came from singing in her local Catholic Church, Our Lady of Lourdes, and in karaoke performances at pubs in and around her native village of Blackburn in Scotland. She auditioned in Glasgow for the third season of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008 and was accepted. Her performance of Les Miserables’ “I Dreamed a Dream” was seen by more than 10 million viewers, becoming an instant viral hit, as the show’s judges, including an incredulous Simon Cowell, and audience members alike were shown with jaws dropped the moment she opened her mouth. The clip went on to attract 650 million YouTube hits.
She has gone on to sell more than 22 million albums, going No. 1 in over 40 countries. She is the first and only person ever to enter the Billboard 200 at No. 1 with a debut album and spend six consecutive weeks at the top, with five albums and a sixth on its way in five years. Susan performed to half a billion people on the finale of China’s Got Talent and has sung for the Pope and the Queen. In 2011, Boyle became the first female artist in 65 years of the U.K. charts to have three albums go straight to No. 1 in succession, in addition to a successful autobiography, a musical based on her life story, and a sold-out U.K. tour.
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Signed to Syco/Columbia since 2009, Boyle is the first and only person over 50 to enter the chart at No. 1 with a debut album and the first solo act and only female artist to have two albums, I Dreamed a Dream and The Gift, hit No. 1 in both the U.K. and U.S. within a year, a record previously held by The Beatles. Boyle also holds the mark for the most pre-release orders ever in Amazon history, with four consecutive albums reaching No. 1 on the top four best sellers charts worldwide.
- This article originally appeared in THR.com.