14 DAY TRIAL // As Susan Boyle’s family is spilling the beans on her state of mind to the media, People magazine is making of this its cover story. Susan Boyle is incredibly famous and very appreciated all over the world for her accomplishment with her debut album, but maybe her fame comes at too high a cost, People says, when speaking of how she suffers from loneliness and mild depression.
These are not words coming from the mag or from some unnamed source either, but from Susan’s own brother who, not long ago, was saying in an interview that he knew for certain his sister was alone, depressed and living in fear that she might never encounter love in her life. Now, he’s also talking to People, as also are other relatives of the singer, all very concerned that perhaps this much media coverage (there’s irony in this story, somewhere) is harming her.
“After performing at Italy’s Sanremo music festival on Feb. 16, Susan Boyle told an adoring audience, ‘Dreams have no expiry date. I’d like this to go on and on.’ But at what cost? Two of her brothers are now voicing concerns for her well-being and speaking out about her ability to handle the pressure of global stardom. ‘The traveling and the whole [fame] thing is exhausting. She still has her anxieties and her loneliness,’ her brother Gerry tells People in the latest cover story,” the mag writes.
“Her other brother, John, is even more blunt: ‘She needs 24-hour care. She needs to be looked after.’ To ease her fears following a break-in at her home last month, Boyle, 48 – who lived with her mother until she died in 2007 – makes late-night calls to her family and friends, and her management installed 24-hour security outside her home. And when that’s not comforting enough, ‘She knows she can come up to me anytime,’ says her longtime friend Lorraine Campbell. ‘If she’s upset, she’ll stay the night. Security would bring her up to my house. I take her home in the morning. Susan stayed with me a week ago. Nighttime is a lonely time for her’,” People further writes.
The cover of the latest issue is also meant to drive home a very clear message, namely that, while worldwide famous, at the end of the day, Susan remains alone. The pressure is also more than Susan Boyle can take as it’s too much, and would be so even for someone who knew how to handle it.