Susan Boyle has said meeting Pope Francis was “a humbling experience”, ahead of her performance in the Vatican’s annual Christmas Concert.
The Scottish star will sing on Saturday night at the event with other performers, including Lionel Richie and Bonnie Tyler.
Bonnie's in the Vatican at the moment meeting fellow performers @SusanBoyle and @LionelRichie. Tomorrow night they'll all be singing in front of @Pontifex at the @ConcertoNatale 🕯 pic.twitter.com/hLUZB2DE6N
— Bonnie Tyler (@BonnieTOfficial) December 13, 2019
According to Vatican News, proceeds from the concert will be used in support of the Amazon and its indigenous people.
Boyle said: “It was a huge honour to meet Pope Francis and at the Vatican. To be at the Vatican meeting the Pope was such a humbling experience and to be asked to take part in his Christmas concert was a true honour.
“I have to pinch myself at how lucky I am and ten years on I’m still having the most fantastic time with these incredible opportunities. I don’t and won’t ever take this for granted.”
Boyle, 58, who met the Pope on Friday, added that she had been a “lifelong fan” of Richie’s and meeting him was “the icing on the cake”.
She said that Friday the 13th may be “unlucky for some, but for me the luckiest day of my life”.
Boyle rose to fame in 2009 after stunning the nation and the Britain’s Got Talent judging panel of Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, with her audition, in which she sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.
She finished as the runner-up on the show behind dance group Diversity. She has gone on to sell millions of records and earn two Grammy nominations.
Next year she will hit the road for her Ten tour, playing in 15 cities with her first date scheduled for Dundee on March 3.