Susan Boyle makes chart history with I dreamed a dream

|PIC1|Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle has made chart history after her album became the best-selling debut album by a female artist.

I Dreamed a Dream entered the charts at No 1 after selling 410,000 copies in the first week. The 48-year-old from West Lothian in Scotland said the news was “fantastic”.

Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell said: “I’m incredibly proud of Susan and delighted for her.

"This success couldn't have happened to a more deserving or lovelier person,” he said. “She did it her way and made a dream come true. Susan Boyle has broken the rules. Her story is like a Hollywood film but this time it's real life and a really talented, nice lady who has won."

Churchgoing Boyle’s album is a collection of classic pop and gospel songs, including “How Great Thou Art” and “Amazing Grace”.

Commenting on her choice of hymns, she said “How Great Thou Art” had “great personal meaning” to her because it reminded her of a friend who liked to sing it in church, while “Up to the Mountain” was a testimony to “reassurance, love and the ability to keep going no matter what ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ life throws at you”.

“God is our light,” she said.

There have been concerns for her health since her meteoric rise to stardom. In a recent a recent interview she said that her faith had helped her get through the death of her mother in 2007.

“My confidence was pretty down at that time. A good way of levelling it out, I found, was to tell myself that even though she's not here physically, she is here mentally and spiritually,” she said. “That's what keeps you going. I have my faith, which is the backbone of who I am, really."

I Dreamed a Dream is being sold at Christian outlets through Integrity.