sensational susan

photography - Hugh Stewart for HB

Scotland's Musical Bird - the bonny Susan Boyle made her maiden fashion shoot for Harper's Bazaar last month at Cliveden, the luxurious Italianate mansion, once the home of Waldorf Astor and his bride, Nancy Langhorne, and now an old-world hotel just outside London.

Boyle has suffered a few bumps while taking the high - road to fame since she shocked the world when she belted out her first notes on 'Britain's Got Talent'.

"It does feel unreal," she tells Harper's Bazaar. "It will take a bit of adjusting to because I've led a sheltered life, I know. I've got life experience, but mentally I have to adjust. But it's all good. All good." Is she glad she did it, auditioned for the show? She looks at me in amazement. "Come on!" she chides. "It goes without saying. Come on now!"

"When you sing a song, you're telling a story," she explains. "That's what I was doing when I sang 'I Dreamed a Dream.' But that wasn't me singing about becoming a singer. It was about the position I was in after my mother died."

Boyle lived with her mom until her death at age 91 in 2007. "I did the audition for her because she always wanted me to make something of my life, but I had to wait a bit because her death prevented me from singing for a while. I couldn't put my heart into it. So I was singing about wanting things to be like they were before she went. You know, it was a double-edged sword because it was about what I wanted to do, but it was also about wanting to turn back to when she was with me." Boyle pauses. "Powerful stuff," she adds, as if to make light of it.


For this unassuming 48 year old woman from Blackburn, Scotland, a small former factory town (population 5,000) not far from my husband's home of Aberdeen, life will never be the same indeed. There is something so magical about a unknown rising to stardom, being transformed into a swan. Boyle is slowly and tentatively stepping out into the world. She goes on to tell HB that she is taking "baby steps". I could watch her 'Britain's Got Talent' video a million times and I would still cry each and every moment as her voice spills into our hearts. I hope the world is kind to her.

nydailynews.com image

Susan Boyle @ home in Blackburn, Scotland

Hugh Stewart photography for HB
more of Susan's fashion shoot with Harper's Bazaar

Hugh Stewart photography

Hugh Stewart photography

Fact; Boyle 'moonwalks' during her shoot in
towering Giuseppe Zanotti heels

read the entire interview with HB here
more about Boyle's life here

To Harper's Bazaar - for sharing these lovely photo's of Miss Boyle and the video showing us her tremendous love of life & incredible whit - a round of applause.
To Susan - a huge dose of gratitude for sharing your passion for singing with us all ~

{go forth & live responsibly}
live your dreams