November 20, 2009

By By Jill Serjeant, Reuters

The upcoming debut album by British singing sensation Susan Boyle has become the largest global CD pre-order in the history of Amazon.com, according to the online retailer.

Boyle's album "I Dreamed a Dream" will be released on Nov. 24 by Sony Music Entertainment. It is the first album since the 48-year-old church volunteer from Scotland took the Internet by storm with her unlikely star turn on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" in April.

Amazon said that Boyle's album was not only the top CD pre-order in the United States, but also the biggest around the world in the 14-year history of its web site.

Amazon declined to give their pre-order figures but said "I Dreamed a Dream" surpassed the 2008 record held by "Supermarket Fantasy" from Japanese rock band Mr. Children, 2007's "Not Too Late" by U.S. singer Norah Jones, and British group Take That's "Never Forget: The Ultimate Collection" in 2008.

"Susan's album is clearly capturing the hearts of our customers around the globe," said Craig Pape, senior manager of music at Amazon.com.

Boyle ultimately lost the final of "Britain's Got Talent" to a dance team, and she was afterward briefly admitted to a private British clinic for exhaustion.

However she was signed to a record deal by "Britain's Got Talent" and "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell and performed one track from the album -- a cover of The Rolling Stone's hit "Wild Horses" -- on "America's Got Talent" in September.

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