Susan Boyle's Ethereal "Amazing Grace" Cover Is a Gold Standard for Hymns
There's something so soothing and peaceful about Susan Boyle's take on the song.
Got Talent icon Susan Boyle is on a musical level all her own, especially when it comes to singing religious hymns. Need an example of this? Look no further than her take on "Amazing Grace."
Released in 2009 from Boyle's debut studio album, I Dreamed a Dream, "Amazing Grace" is the eighth track and is arguably the highlight of the entire record.
And Boyle's performed it live several times. She took the song to new heights in 2019 when she covered it at Glasgow Cathedral.
The care and passion Boyle brings to performing hymns is a reflection of her faith. The 63-year-old credits religion with helping guide her throughout her career. In a 2014 interview with The Christian Post, she revealed to fans just how much her faith has impacted her.
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"My faith is incredibly important to me on every level," Boyle explained. "It gets me through those moments of self-doubt and also allows me to understand that this gift of my career, later in life, is from a higher power."
Listen, below, to Boyle's studio version of "Amazing Grace":
Boyle rose to fame after her 2009 Britain's Got Talent audition went viral. She sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables and floored the Judges, which included Simon Cowell.
“I’ll never forget this,” Cowell told America's Got Talent Host Terry Crews while re-watching a clip from Boyle's original BGT Audition during an episode of AGT. “I was having a terrible, terrible day, and I remember saying, ‘I really, really hope she’s not gonna sing,’ because there were so many bad singers that day and I thought, ‘I just can’t take another one.’”
He continued, "Our expectations were quite low, but she is the perfect example of never judge a book by its cover. She is just the most incredible person. This was a lady who lived on her own in Scotland, and she came on the show and everything changed. Because up until that point, there was a perception that you had to look this way, or be this age, and she just changed the rulebook. Full stop."
What to know about "Amazing Grace"
With lyrics by poet John Newton and originally published in 1779, "Amazing Grace" is a classic Christian hymn that is overwhelmingly well-known in popular culture. The lyrics weave a story of being forgiven regardless of one's past mistakes.
According to CBS, "Amazing Grace" is sung approximately 10 million times annually, from church services to on-stage covers to candid social media performances.
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The hymn is incredibly popular for artists to cover. Boyle's version joins other impeccable takes like Carrie Underwood's phenomenal country-influenced cover, plus John Legend's performance of it from 2007.
