Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly-voiced Welsh pop star known for the 1983 chart-topping power ballad 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' has died unexpectedly at age 75. Her family announced her death on her website, stating she passed away in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness. She had been hospitalized in May in Faro, where she owned a home, for emergency intestinal surgery and was later placed in an induced coma.
Career Highlights and Legacy
Tyler earned three Grammy nominations, represented the United Kingdom at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest (finishing 19th), and was awarded an MBE for services to music by Queen Elizabeth II in 2023. Her signature song, 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' has amassed over 1 billion streams and its video has surpassed 1 billion views. The song spent four weeks at No. 1 on the charts and saw renewed popularity during solar eclipses in 2017 and 2024. In 2020, music site Stereogum described the track as 'pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion.'
Early Life and Rise to Fame
Born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Wales, Tyler was a coal miner's daughter who grew up in public housing with an outside toilet. She adored the Beatles and Janis Joplin, and began singing into a hairbrush as a child. In 1976, she underwent surgery to remove nodules on her throat, which gave her the trademark husky voice. After changing her name to Sherene Davis, she fronted a soul band and was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell. She signed with RCA and released her debut album 'The World Starts Tonight' in 1977, which included her first hit 'Lost in France.' She later scored a No. 3 hit with 'It's a Heartache' in 1978.
Collaboration with Jim Steinman
Tyler signed with Sony and requested to work with Meat Loaf songwriter Jim Steinman after seeing him perform 'Bat Out of Hell' on the BBC. Steinman wrote 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' for her, borrowing the lyric 'Turn around, bright eyes' from his 1969 student musical 'The Dream Engine.' The song featured E Street Band members Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg. The music video, shot in a gothic former asylum in Surrey, became a staple of early MTV. Tyler's album 'Faster Than the Speed of Night' earned a Grammy nomination for best rock vocal performance.
Later Career and Personal Life
Tyler continued to release music, including the 1984 hits 'Holding Out for a Hero' from 'Footloose' and 'Here She Comes' from 'Metropolis.' Her 2019 album 'Between the Earth and the Stars' featured duets with Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard, and Francis Rossi. In 2013, she recorded a country-flavored album in Nashville, 'Rocks and Honey,' which included the Eurovision entry 'Believe in Me.' Tyler was married to property developer and former Olympic judo competitor Robert Sullivan. She is survived by her husband and family.
