Profile: Susan Boyle

graysea

Profile: Susan Boyle

Pam Rhodes interviews once-unlikely star Susan Boyle, who has just released her sixth album, Hope.

When an unassuming 47-year-old from West Lothian stepped onto the stage and prepared to audition before a 2,000-strong crowd and the Britain’s Got Talentjudges almost six years ago, most of the nation made a sweeping judgement based on her appearance. And then Susan Boyle began to sing.

We immediately kicked ourselves for being so shallow. And then we kicked ourselves again when Susan’s life story – one wrapped up in years of unemployment, the recent loss of both her parents and struggles with her mental health – began to seep into the public arena. The YouTube clip of Susan’s audition, in which she sang ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from Les Miserables, has since been watched more than 300 million times.

One of nine children born to Catholic parents, Susan grew up in the small Scottish village of Blackburn. She attended church on a weekly basis throughout her childhood, first encountering music as she sang along with the rest of the congregation. It wasn’t until later in life that she sang solo.

MIRACLES CAN HAPPEN, BUT YOU HAVE TO WAIT

School presented a mixed blessing for Susan. One of her older sisters was a teacher at the school and taught Susan, which was an advantage, but bullying was commonplace.

Due to her lack of confidence, Susan’s teachers encouraged her to go on stage, thinking this might boost her self-esteem. Her school years were filled with choir rehearsals and concerts.

Susan’s memory for details of her childhood – and particularly for the lyrics of hymns she sang many years ago – is remarkable. In her conversation with Pam Rhodes for Premier Christianity, she revealed that at her first communion, aged seven, she sang ‘Suffer Little Children To Come Unto Me’ and ‘O Mary Mother Sweetest Best’. She reels off the lyrics to the latter with aplomb.

Until her mother’s death in 2007, the pair lived together in Susan’s childhood home. Their relationship had grown particularly strong in the years following her father’s passing away in 1999. It was Susan’s mother, a devout Irish Catholic, who had always championed her singing and eventually encouraged her to apply for a talent show.

Susan came second in the Britain’s Got Talent final, but was immediately signed by Simon Cowell’s record label, Syco Entertainment. Everything changed for her overnight: she immediately moved to London for six months and then made her first trip to the US to work on America’s Got Talent.

It has been a whirlwind of success and mounting fame for Susan ever since; albeit a whirlwind in which she has needed to consider her spiritual and mental health carefully while allowing her career to develop. In 2012 she was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Asked by Parade magazine how this has affected her, she says: ‘I’m more relaxed and confident. People have a better understanding of me now. I don’t feel so alienated. Asperger’s is a condition I have to live with, but it hasn’t prevented me from doing what I love. I have a lot more to offer.’

Susan holds the international record for the most pre-ordered album of all time. To date, she has sold more than 19 million albums worldwide and has received two Grammy Awards nominations. She also made her debut film performance last year playing a vicar’s wife, and of course singing, in festive family film The Christmas Candle, based on Max Lucado’s novel. This winter will see her depart for her first US tour and the release of her sixth album. And there are more albums and an Australian tour in the pipeline, she says.

Despite all that’s happened for the ‘wee lassie’ from West Lothian (Susan’s own words), this is a woman with her feet planted firmly on the ground, and she still lives in the family home. ‘I’m still in the local community, and I feel that’s very important,’ she says.

And it’s not insignificant that Susan’s latest album is called Hope. ‘It’s to show other people that they too can do what I did,’ she says. ‘But not just that. They can have a belief in themselves, have belief in their own abilities and, if you like, a belief in God.’

Pam: You were the last of nine children, and your mum had you when she was in her mid-40s. It wasn’t the easiest of births, was it?

Susan: She had to have a Caesarean section...She was advised at the time to have an abortion, but because of her Catholic beliefs that didn’t come about. So I’m still here, obviously.

What kind of youngster were you?

I think I would probably describe myself as a little ball of fire. I was hyperactive and I was a pest.

I was very hard to rear, you know. I was very difficult to bring up, with my behavioural problems and everything else.

What was school like for you?

School was a very nice place. I had a sister who taught in the school, and the teachers were very kind. But the kids can be cruel, and they used to call me names. But they weren’t all like that…School days, I
think, were the happiest days of my life.

What were Sundays like in your house?

On Sundays my mother would get up really early and go to first mass, because she had to come back and make the dinner…She wanted a bit of peace, you know. Everyone else went to the half-past eleven mass. It was really good.

So how did you feel about church as a youngster? Did you enjoy it?

I enjoyed being in church because I liked the peace and tranquillity. I liked the hymns and I liked the idea of having a connection with God.

Do you have a special affection for hymns?

I love hymns. They’re a way of communicating with God and a kind of prayer, if you like, set to music.

Did you pray together as a family?

We prayed together as a family and we prayed individually as well, because to pray together is to act together. I’ve found that very helpful throughout my adult life as well.

You’ve spoken of turning points in your life, one of which occurred when you and your mum went to Lourdes. Why did you go and what do you remember of that trip?

I went to Lourdes because I had a difficult time growing up. I found it very helpful; very peaceful. I couldn’t really do very much on my own before, but after that – it wasn’t immediate – I gradually got around to doing things on my own. I think that Our Lady had a part in everything I did.

I’VE GOT A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

You lost your mum in 2007. That must have hit you very hard…

I felt that half of me died because I was very used to being around the house with her. I was the only one left because the rest of them all got married, or got out of the house for some reason…I practically became her carer. I was her companion…I was pretty low. I had to get social workers in to help me. I had to rebuild my life again [and] learn how to manage on the few coins I had. I was always living on benefits at the time and it was very difficult.

All your life your mum encouraged you to sing. Did you feel like singing during that period?

Naturally you don’t feel like singing…I got very introverted…but I joined the Legion of Mary [an international association of Church volunteers] at about that time, and that gradually pulled me round.

Does singing reflect how you’re feeling inside?

Singing is about telling stories, but you’ve got to feel those stories within the words of the actual composition. If you feel the story within the composition, it helps you to connect with the song.

Wasn’t it your mum who first suggested that you should have a go at Britain’s Got Talent?

It wasn’t Britain’s Got Talent; it was a choral programme we were watching on television. And I turned around and I said, ‘Is that what you want me to do?’ And she goes, ‘Of course...’

A couple of years after her death you found yourself heading to the audition forBritain’s Got Talent. What was that day like?

It was a dark morning. I got washed and dressed quickly; my cat was wondering what was wrong. I said, ‘Just sit there just now, Pebbles, and I’ll be back in a wee while.’

I was early for my appointment, so they actually told me to wait…I went for a wee walk, and when I came back they told me I was actually too late, so I was to come back for the ones at night. I says, ‘Well, I’m not travelling now, could I wait somewhere?’ So they said, ‘You can wait in the holding rooms.’

So I waited for ages in the holding rooms. I saw…magicians coming in, I saw people screaming and fighting, I saw Ant and Dec coming in…I just enjoyed myself watching them. And then it came my turn at 7.30pm. I was one of the last ones there. I went in, and you know the rest.

How on earth did you feel when you walked out onto the stage to face that huge audience, plus Simon Cowell and the judges?

I was very nervous and very withdrawn.

‘I Dreamed a Dream’ was a very poignant song choice. How did you come to select it?

Because of the circumstances I was going through at the time; they were very difficult. I said to myself, ‘There has to be some way out of this, some way of making change.’

You couldn’t possibly have been prepared for the audience’s reaction. How did you feel when you got the standing ovation?

I wasn’t really prepared for the standing ovation. I was pleasantly surprised…it was just like a big explosion, really, after that.

Your life changed instantly. Why do you think people were so drawn to you?

I think it was the idea of being the underdog; the person who was always laughed at; the person who other people couldn’t really see doing much. So that was probably my way, without realising it, of saying: ‘This is who I am. I’ve got something to offer.’ Even though some people thought that outwardly I’d nothing to offer.

Working with Syco from then on was tough for you, wasn’t it?

Mentally and emotionally, because I’d never done it before. It was very new to me, and I was expected to learn communication skills, such as interview skills, in a very short space of time.

Was it spiritually tough for you as well? Did you feel as if you had moved away from your roots to such a degree that you had almost lost your connection with God?

I never really lost my connection with God. I always maintain that having your roots is very important. So after six months I came back to Blackburn, and there was a time that I didn’t go to chapel because I was too busy. But I missed it so much that I came back and I regained my roots from there.

HYMNS ARE A KIND OF PRAYER SET TO MUSIC

How would you describe your relationship with God during that season?

I’ve got a very close relationship with God. It’s almost like a second father, if you like. And I felt he was guiding me at the time.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to use our talents. Is it important to you to use your extraordinary talent well?

Well, I didn’t really know I had any talents before. But I guess this is Our Lady’s way of saying, ‘You’ve got something, are you going to use it?’ So your point about being able to use your talents is a very poignant one for me; a very special one.

Show business isn’t necessarily a kind world. How difficult it is to hang onto your Christian principles?

It’s not difficult for me, as an individual, but I suppose for other people…maybe younger people…it draws them into things that maybe they don’t understand. So it has its dangers, but it has its good points as well. I was quite lucky because I came into it at an age where maybe I could be a bit more mature about things.

What have been your personal highlights since that Britain’s Got Talent audition?

There have been so many, but it was probably when I met Pope Benedict at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. I was honoured enough to be asked to sing three songs at the mass.

You appeared in your first film, The Christmas Candle, last year. It’s a film about miracles. What do you think about miracles?

Miracles can happen, but you have to wait. You have to wait for miracles.

So prayers are answered?

Prayers are answered, but only if God thinks they’re good for you.

You have a cover version of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ on the album, the lyrics of which include, ‘Imagine there’s no heaven’. How do you picture heaven?

Heaven for me is a lovely garden, where you meet people that you’ve known before; people who’ve passed on, who you’ve loved.

Do you think that your beliefs have matured in view of all that’s happened to you in recent years?

They haven’t waned, but they’ve definitely matured. I’m getting older and I’m getting a bit more analytical.

You can listen to Pam Rhodes’ interview with Susan Boyle on Premier Christian Radio at 5pm on Christmas Day.

The album Hope is available from essentialchristian.com and in Christian bookshops.

Article on link:

http://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2014/December-2014/Profile-Susan-Boyle

Susan Boyle: Singer and Now Businesswoman

By Marie Sheahan Brown

Who can forget the YouTube masterpiece? She strode and sashayed onto the stage with golden stature and confidence. She sparred wittily with the three famous judges, wearied by their long day of auditions in Glasgow, Scotland. She didn’t look the part of a “professional singer,” although one might perceive that being “currently unemployed” at forty-seven left little extra for beauty-shop pampering. Was she, rather, a comedienne? Susan Boyle audition

Then she sang. The formerly skeptical audience stood enraptured, tears welling as she belted out “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Misérables with stunning clarity and passion.

More than five years after the seven-minute audition video aired on Britain’s Got Talent on April 11, 2009, and promptly hit worldwide news feeds, multitudes in America and beyond remember Susan Boyle. Since she first broke Amazon pre-sale records in September 2009, millions have bought her albums. Each year, a new carefully crafted album has been released in time for Christmas. Since 2009, five albums have garnered sixty-three gold and ninety-four platinum sales levels in forty-two countries. Her sixth album, Hope, will be released on October 21 in the United States.

Scottish and United Kingdom audiences thrilled to Miss Boyle’s first full-length concert tours in 2013 and 2014. Now she’s coming to America—home of an immediate and strong support base—starting in San Diego on October 8, and singing her way across the southern half of the United States at venues in twenty cities. A sweep through the northern states could likely follow in the future.

See http://www.susanboylemusic.com/us/events

Many have written about Susan Boyle’s difficult and graced life. Her 2010 autobiography, The Woman I Was Born to Be, is a good source. Now fifty-three, she carefully revealed late in 2013 that, after decades of mistaken assumptions, she had finally been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. The relief of self-knowledge strengthens and encourages her after a lifetime of dealing with debilitating anxiety and panic attacks, and some difficulty in handling emotions and relating comfortably to people.

“This is a point: People may have problems,” she states in a documentary, “but they’ve got other things as well. And they’ve got a lot more to offer.” (Gammon, Lottie, produced, filmed, and directed. “There’s Something About Susan.” Firecracker Films Ltd. for ITV, 45:37 minutes. 2013)

Fewer analyses have considered her role as a small businesswoman and philanthropist whose personal success has enhanced the lives and small businesses of countless others not only in her native Scotland but also in, for example, America.

Miss Boyle, easily mistaken for a stately five feet ten in the famous video, is, in fact, barely over five feet tall with soft, dainty hands and feet—a huggable China doll. So she does qualify as a smallbusinesswoman despite her multimillions in sales, which also benefit business giants like Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited; SYCOmusic (Simon Cowell); Simon & Schuster, Inc.; Amazon; and, more recently, concert tour bus companies. In significant other ways, she retains her focus on the little ones.

The woman who had “never been married, never been kissed” and remains a virgin has, since 2009, given birth with astonishing fecundity. Lewis Hyde well describes her kind of gift and fertility in his 1983 classic, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property: “I have hoped . . . to speak of the inner gift that we accept as the object of our labor, and the outer gift that has become a vehicle of culture. I am not concerned with gifts given in spite or fear, nor those gifts we accept out of servility or obligation; my concern is the gift we long for, the gift that, when it comes, speaks commandingly to the soul and irresistibly moves us.”

Mr. Hyde first explores traditional “gift economies,” in which citizens are considered wealthy not according to how much they acquire but how much they give. In fictional form, Jean M. Auel’s well-researched Earth’s Children series (The Clan of the Cave Bear and five sequels) describes the creativity and ingenuity that led people to survive, to form communities, and to work cooperatively for mutual benefit. Goods, services, storytelling and musical talents, art, and many other gifts were appreciated in deeper ways than they might be in a typical “market economy.”

According to reviewer JoAnn Schwartz, “Above all, Hyde is interested in examining the effect our current immersion in the market economy and the myth of the free market has both on our view of gifts and on our ability to give and receive them. The market economy is deliberately impersonal, but the whole purpose of the ‘gift economy’ is to establish and strengthen the relationships between us, to connect us one to the other. It is this element of relationship which leads Hyde to speak of gift exchange as ‘erotic’ commerce, opposing eros (the principle of attraction, union, involvement which binds together) to logos (reason and logic in general, the principle of differentiation in particular). A market economy is an emanation of logos.

“In a market economy,” Ms. Schwartz continues, “one can hoard one’s goods without losing wealth. Indeed, wealth is increased by hoarding—although we generally call it ‘saving.’ In contrast, in a gift economy, wealth is decreased by hoarding, for it is the circulation of the gift(s) within the community that leads to increase—increase in connections, increase in relationship strength. Through this book, Hyde helps us focus on the importance of gifts, their flow and movement, and the impact that the modern market place has had on the circulation of gifts.” (http://southerncrossreview.org/4/schwartz.html)

Susan Boyle does appreciate the financial security that she had never known, especially in the fearsome years after her mother died in 2007, when Miss Boyle kept her house cold so that she could afford the heating bill. Yet more important, Susan Boyle has said all along, “I sing to make people happy.” When she was a girl, the gift spoke “commandingly to the soul”—her soul. She honed, honed, honed the gift to perfection over decades of world obscurity. She sees with gratitude and humility the effects of this gift on people worldwide. When this gift is pointed out to her in personal conversation, she bows her head and lowers her eyes shyly. “Thank you.”

Miss Boyle’s fame and financial success have boosted tourism modestly in West Lothian, Scotland, with its pastoral more than spectacular scenery, a region that has suffered from bouts of economic depression and unemployment over the past few centuries. In February 2013, for example, following a centuries-old pattern, the main employer in the area—Halls of Broxburn meat processing plant—was closed by foreign owners, leaving 1,700 unemployed.

Lorraine Campbell co-owns and manages The Balbairdie—a nicely refurbished old hotel and pub in Bathgate, West Lothian. When the economy suffers, The Balbairdie feels it. Asked how she copes, Ms. Campbell replied, “You just keep going.” Happily, the local economy has improved some since 2013, according to Ms. Campbell in April 2014.

Miss Boyle has engaged experts like Andy Stephens, manager; Nicola Phillips, publicist; and Andrew Panton, creative and vocal director, to name a few. She has provided jobs for local personal assistants who handle correspondence, scheduling, wardrobe consultation, and myriad other details; gardeners; carpenters to renovate the council house she grew up and still lives in (her first big post-Britain’s Got Talent purchase); a housekeeper; women who fix her hair, do her nails, and apply her makeup for special public appearances and photo sessions; and others who tend to basic needs of a now-busy celebrity who still prefers to live in her home village, stop in at her favorite small shops and establishments, and take the bus.

Miss Boyle has also given seed money and sponsorship for creative business and charitable ventures in her local community and beyond. One start-up, Boyle’s Boutique, is an extended-family cottage industry that sells, among others, products featuring the new Boyle Tartan created for the family. Products may be ordered online.

Susan Boyle’s very capable personal assistant Sadie Boyle (no relation) says Miss Boyle gets about four hundred emails weekly, many requesting her generosity. This kind of response to another’s fame and fortune is not uncommon.

More unusual, and a clearer example of the fruits of the “gift economy,” is the generation of a worldwide community of Susan Boyle supporter-fans who have formed friendships, discovered or rekindled their own creative gifts, invested thousands of volunteer hours, spread financial generosity, and—to a small extent—started creative cottage enterprises for profit or merely to cover expenses.

Several unofficial Susan Boyle fansites live on the Internet. The first and largest, still flourishing, is www.susan-boyle.com. On April 11, 2009, Paul Wood, a London construction worker, watched Miss Boyle’s audition on TV and immediately put up a website. Starting within hours after the audition aired, people from many continents to whom Susan Boyle’s gift spoke “commandingly to the soul” were “irresistibly move[d]” to find out anything they could about her on the Internet. They frequently stumbled across Mr. Wood’s hastily launched site with its prolific discussion threads generating hundreds of written comments every day in the first two months of Miss Boyle’s fame.

To bring some order to the conversational chaos, Mr. Wood launched a companion Forum in June 2009 with more sophisticated software, accessed through the main website. Anyone could (and still can) join for free. The main rules are that one not be an Internet troll (a term and experience many had never heard of), that one behave reasonably civilly as outlined in posted guidelines, and that one not use the Forum itself for commercial purposes (more on that later).

Volunteer moderators and techies keep the discussions and online experience on an even keel. Online advertisements generated by Google AdSense and Amazon sales linked to the website (“SuBo Store”) help pay for the normal operational expenses.

In early 2010, Mr. Wood announced that he was going to auction off the website (some fifty thousand registered members) and its Forum (a few thousand registered members at the time). The worldwide member community could not bear the prospect of being taken over by some unknown commercial entity with other goals. So they decided to bid on the fansite themselves. A few members—by no means wealthy—each voluntarily loaned trusted fellow members a few thousand dollars to buy the fansite during the auction. The effort succeeded in July 2010.

Navigating through some tensions and hurt feelings (typical in any community anywhere), the worldwide Susan Boyle Fans International, Inc. (SBFII) community established itself as a non-profit corporation registered in Delaware, USA. SBFII elects a multinational volunteer board of directors; keeps meticulous financial records and files annual tax returns; maintains bylaws; and holds online annual meetings and elections engaging active members. Technically not a charity, SBFII uses AdSense and SuBo Store income to cover modest expenses and keep a healthy bank balance. Funds left over from voluntary collections (often for tasteful gifts for Miss Boyle for special occasions) are donated to a charity of Susan Boyle’s choice, frequently benefitting children in Scotland. By December 2011, SBFII repaid all interest-free loans given by members to buy the website; it remains debt free. No member gets paid for services to SBFII or personally benefits financially.

From the beginning, even silver-haired grandmothers proficient only with email learned to navigate the fansites in order to participate in a community of people who have experienced an inexplicable response to Susan Boyle—both her singing and her unique way of being—unlike their response to other favorite singers. Within months, members began gathering in person around the globe (often in restaurants, boosting local economies). They attended (and surreptitiously filmed and posted to the fansites for the enjoyment of those who could not attend) Miss Boyle’s performances in various cities (Britain’s Got Talent tour venues in the UK; Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and more). Supporter-fans flocked to these events even though—until only 2013, when she first tried her own full-length concerts in Scotland—Miss Boyle was slated to sing just one, two, maybe three songs. These gatherings supported local hotels, B+Bs, restaurants, cab drivers, shops, and other travel-related businesses.

Miss Boyle and her team soon experienced that supporter-fans who came to these early events were older or at least more mature than stereotypical rowdies at, for example, Justin Bieber concerts. They saw that typical Susan Boyle supporter-fans are responsible, respectful, fun loving, generative. They include retired or active professionals—teachers, nurses, techies, writers, musicians, artists, farmers, truckers, businesspeople, social workers, radio hosts, professors, lawyers, homemakers, construction workers, postmasters, foresters.

To most gatherings (usually at restaurants) supporter-fans bring homemade memorabilia to share, including commemorative buttons and red scarves to identify themselves in various venues. The popularity of such items led SBFII to add another linked site, “Fan Creations,” linked in turn to the creators’ individual websites. Products include non-Susan-Boyle-related fan creations. Currently, three members offer SuBotique Hand Painted Apparel; Creative Images by tweek (Buttons, Mugs, etc.); and Susan Boyle Professional Singer chronicles gathered from news and other sources.

SBFII members often post creative ideas and images to discuss in writing with one another. Memorably, in 2009, a member from Texas, one from Iowa, and other volunteers, coordinated an international quilting bee. Supporter-fans from every continent, including Antarctica, created and mailed squares for a handmade quilt presented to Miss Boyle at a brunch following her debut solo appearance on the Todayshow on November 23—the day her first album, I Dreamed A Dream, was released in the United States and quickly broke world records in several categories.

Members can upload Susan-related videos that they have created; share poems that they’ve written; upload posters that they’ve designed digitally to document Miss Boyle’s career and accomplishments; upload news reports of supporter-fan activities, complete with photographs; post fine pencil drawings or paintings displaying talent the artists had only recently discovered; and offer a place where members can contribute their own essays. These essays, sometimes written in French or other non-English languages, often try to explain how the wee singer with the big voice; the shy woman who communicates profoundly—cor ad cor loquitur—through music others have written; the multimillionaire who stays in her small lifelong home and still takes the bus—the essentially inexplicable Susan Boyle—“irresistibly moves” them.

SBFII and other volunteers take responsibility to daily and positively post or re-post Susan Boyle news, photos, and encounters on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. Their Internet involvement began immediately when Miss Boyle became famous—and once again experienced the bullying known since childhood, only this time inflicted by some members of the media and anonymous commentators. She writes in her autobiography, “What I didn’t know then, because I didn’t have a computer at the time, was that every time there was a mean comment about me in the press, a dozen messages of support would appear in response. On the Internet there was a growing community of fans. I had no idea how many people out there in the world felt moved to stick up for me, and I want to thank everybody for that.” (The Woman I Was Born to Be, pages 188–189)

Miss Boyle’s professional team also encourages creativity from fans. Starting with the first documentary of her life, Susan Boyle: I Dreamed A Dream, produced in 2009 by Talkback Thames, fans were invited via the official www.susanboylemusic.com site (picked up and promoted by volunteer sites) to send short videos of themselves saying “Hello, Susan!” with backdrops representing their locations. Several clips from around the world were chosen for the documentary. As a lead-up to Miss Boyle’s second album, The Gift, she held a worldwide “Susan’s Search” competition, inviting any amateur singer to upload a brief selfie singing “Silent Night.” The winner, Amber Stassi, a thirty-three-year-old paramedic from Brewerton, New York, sang “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with Miss Boyle on the album and at the 2010 outdoor Today show appearance in New York City.

In the 2013 and 2014 concert tours in Scotland and the United Kingdom, Miss Boyle and her team selected local choirs to serve as back-up choruses in every city, receiving standard financial compensation. Already individual choir members in the United States are tweeting: “Aaliyah Buchanan ‏@Itsuko_Sora I’m to pumped, i get to sing for Susan Boyle!!!!” and “Drew Mikuska ‏@DrewMikuska Hahahahaha I’m singing backup for Susan Boyle.”

Already in the twenty cities spanning the southern United States, supporter-fans from as far away as Australia and Scotland are buying tickets. They are organizing pre-concert dinner-camaraderie gatherings for supporter-fans, some of whom they have never met in person but know through their written posts on fansites. Restaurants, hotels, theaters, airlines, public transportation providers, cab drivers, and many small businesses will benefit. Susan Boyle, her team, and numerous music-related vendors will profit.

Yet in Susan Boyle’s “gift economy,” which she neither forecasted nor manipulated, money can facilitate but cannot possibly buy the greatest benefits to the community in which she finds herself to be the generator and principal member. In this higher economy, she is both blessed herself and a blessing to countless others.

As recently reported on her official website, Susan says about her upcoming United States concert tour: “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 US 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.”

Source:Small Business Exchange Northeast