Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer behind such iconic hits as Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out for a Hero, has died aged 75.
The legendary singer passed away after previously being in an induced coma after emergency bowel surgery and removal of her appendix.
Her death was confirmed on her website in a statement which read: ‘Bonnie’s family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie died suddenly last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness she was being treated for.
Tyler was admitted to a hospital in Faro, Portugal, where he has a home, and underwent emergency bowel surgery after not feeling well about a month ago.
Her friend Liberto Mealha said at the time: “She decided to travel to Algarvewhere he began to feel severe abdominal pain. Two days later, she went to a private hospital, which rushed her to a hospital in Faro because her appendix had burst and she needed emergency surgery.’
She suffered a cardiac arrest after the life-saving operation and ‘had to be resuscitated’, Portuguese publication Correio da Manha reported.
Percussion and Vocal Surgery
Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Neath, Waleson June 8, 1951, began her career at a young age when finishing second in a talent contest inspired her to pursue a career in music just before she turned 18.
After working as a backup singer, she was seen singing with her band Imagination at a club in Swansea in 1975, signing with RCA Records and changing her name to Bonnie Tyler.
She had her first hit record in 1976 with Lost in France, but thought her career might be over before it began after she had to undergo surgery for a vocal cord nodule.
As Tyler recalled to The Observer in 2009: ‘You’re not supposed to talk for six weeks after the operation, but I found it very difficult because I’m a bit of a talker. I tried not to talk, but when you can’t talk, you can’t go out.
“After you’ve had a hit record, if you go out and you don’t talk to anybody, people will say, ‘Oh my God, who do you think she is?’ They would have thought I had a big head. One day I just screamed in frustration, then I went back to the specialist and he said I had damaged my voice and it would take six months to recover.’
Despite the fear that her most important instrument might be damaged beyond repair, Tyler’s voice had actually returned and had become stranger and had more of an edge.
“It turns out that losing my voice wasn’t too bad for me — I had my first hit in America with my new voice on ‘It’s a Heartache,'” Tyler said.
“Three other girls had recorded the song before me, and it didn’t go anywhere in America, so maybe my rough voice was what that song and my career needed.”
It’s A Heartache – released in November 1977 – became Tyler’s first breakout hit and stands as one of her most successful singles. peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
Total Eclipse Of The Heart and further career hits
Her new vocal stylings led many to label her as a ‘female’ Rod Stewartwith that distinctive edge that proved to be her creation, especially once in the 1980s she signed with CBS and collaborated with composer and producer Jim Steinman, famous for his partnership with Meatloaf.
Together, Steinman and Tyler produced one of her most enduring hits, Total Eclipse of the Heart, released in February 1983, with the song going on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Steinman would also write another of her major 1980s hits, Holding Out for a Hero, before going on to collaborate with Dieter Bohlen, Giorgio Moroder, Nik Kershaw and Harold Faltermeyer in the 1990s on the likes of Bitterblue, Angel Heart and All In One Voice.
Tyler continued to produce music and release albums until 2021 with the release of her latest work, The Best Is Yet To Come.
It was also the UK entry of 2013 Eurovision Song Contestwith the song ‘Beso n Mua’. Tyler finished 19th on the night, with 23 points, saying at the time, ‘I did the best I could with a great song,’ adding, ‘I’m so happy and so glad I did it because it was an incredible experience. It was like the Grammys all over again.’
Discussing her career with The mirror in 2025, Tyler revealed that she ‘never, ever gets tired’ of singing Total Eclipse, the song she has the softest spot for is Lost In France.
“It was my first hit. It launched my career and I wouldn’t be where I am now without it.’
Bonnie Tyler discography
- The World Begins Tonight (1977)
- Force of Nature (1978)
- Diamond Cut (1979)
- Goodbye to the Island (1981)
- Faster Than Night Speed (1983)
- Secret Dreams and the Forbidden Fire (1986)
- Hide Your Heart (1988), also known as Notes from America
- Bitter Blue (1991)
- Heart of an Angel (1992)
- Silhouette in Red (1993)
- Free Spirit (1995)
- All in One Voice (1998)
- Heart Strings (2003), also known as Heart & Soul
- Simply Believe (2004)
- Wings (2005), also known as Celebrate
- Rocks and Honey (2013)
- Between the Earth and the Stars (2019)
- The Best is Yet to Come (2021)
Marriage and charity work
Tyler is survived by her husband, Robert Sullivan, 76, a property developer and former Olympian, having competed in Judo in 1972 Olympics.
Sullivan was working as a club manager when he met Tyler in 1970, when she started singing in nightclubs in Swansea. They were married on July 4, 1973.
The couple had no children, with Tyler suffering a miscarriage when she was 39.
Talking about her experience, Tyler said The mirror in 2025: ‘It’s weird, but I consider myself blessed to have known I could be pregnant, to have been pregnant. Robert and I were very sad when it happened, but I’m not the type to dwell on things. The next weekend I was in Paris for a TV show, then I just moved on.’
Tyler also has three sisters, two brothers (her older brother passed away a few years ago), 16 nieces and nephews, and 14 great nieces and nephews.
Together, Tyler and Sullivan own property in the UK and farmland in Portugal and New Zealand.
In addition to her history career, Tyler also participated in a number of charity ventures, including the Anti-Heroin Project in 1986 and Ferry Aid in 1987, publishing a cover of The BeatlesLet it be to raise money for the victims of the disaster Zeebrugge.
She had been a patron of Bobath Children’s Therapy in Wales since the 1990s and was Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice Ambassador for Wales.
She also participated in events and releases to raise money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the Covid-19 pandemic.
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