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Susan Boyle's Mystical "How Great Thou Art" Cover Sounds Like a Heavenly Cloud

The BGT and AGT alum nailed yet another religious music staple. 

By Christopher Rosa
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When Susan Boyle's on the mic, rest assured you're going to get something truly spellbinding. 

How to Watch

Watch the Season 20 premiere of America's Got Talent on Tuesday, May 27 at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock

Whether she's covering Madonna hits, Christmas classics, or gospel hymns, the Britain's Got Talent icon (and AGT alum) has a way of completely transporting you with her voice. Be it her tone, her range, or her stage presence, Boyle is the definition of a captivating performer. 

If you haven't been able to catch her live, Boyle has several albums you can stream that show off her musical prowess, starting with her 2009 album I Dreamed a Dream (named after the Les Mis song she originally auditioned with on BGT that catapulted her to stardom). She's dropped seven studio LPs in full, the most recent being 2016's A Wonderful World

On that first album is a cover of "How Great Thou Art," a popular Christian hymn that's been covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Carrie Underwood. Boyle's take on the song is mystical and dramatic — and, at some points, sounds like a literal heavenly cloud. Listen for yourself, below: 

RELATED: Susan Boyle Astounds Singing "My Heart Will Go On” a Cappella on Live TV

Susan Boyle has been wowing audiences since 2009

Susan Boyle appears on NBC News' "Today" show.

RELATED: Young Susan Boyle Singing "The Way We Were" at 23 (Before BGT) Is Spectacular

Like we said earlier, Boyle first entered public consciousness auditioning for BGT in 2009. The show's creator and executive producer, Simon Cowell, was also a Judge on the panel for Boyle's TV debut — a moment he remembers fondly. 

“I’ll never forget this,” Cowell told Terry Crews while re-watching a clip from Boyle's original BGT Audition during an episode of America's Got Talent. “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." 

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