Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer whose powerhouse voice made Total Eclipse of the Heart, Holding Out for a Hero and It’s a Heartache global classics, has died at the age of 75.
A statement posted on her official website confirmed that Tyler died in hospital in Portugal after complications from an illness for which she had been receiving treatment.
‘Heartbroken’
“Bonnie’s family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for.”
The statement added that the family would issue a further update in due course and requested privacy during this difficult time.
Bonnie Tyler had been hospitalised in Portugal in May after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery and was placed into an induced coma. Last month, her spokesperson said she had emerged from the coma but remained critically ill in intensive care.
Tributes quickly poured in following the news of her death. Wales Secretary Jo Stevens described Tyler as “a Welsh music icon, Grammy and Brit award winner and the sound of my teenage years.”
International success
Born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, near Neath in south Wales, Tyler was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell while performing in a Swansea club.
She released her debut single, Lost in France, in 1977 before achieving international success with It’s a Heartache, which reached No 4 in the UK and No 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Her defining moment came in 1983 with Total Eclipse of the Heart, written by Jim Steinman.
The dramatic rock ballad topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States, making Bonnie Tyler the first Welsh artist to achieve a US No 1 single.
Originally written for a musical adaptation of Nosferatu under the title Vampires in Love, the song became one of the biggest hits of the decade and earned Tyler a Grammy Award nomination.
She often said it remained one of her favourite songs to perform live.
Multiple Grammy nominations
Steinman also penned Holding Out for a Hero, another of Tyler’s signature songs, which featured on the soundtrack to the 1984 film Footloose before enjoying renewed popularity through its inclusion in Shrek 2.
Throughout her career, Bonnie Tyler received multiple Grammy nominations and enjoyed worldwide success with albums including Faster Than the Speed of Night. She later represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, finishing 19th, and was appointed an MBE in 2023 for services to music.
In 2025, more than four decades after its release, Total Eclipse of the Heart surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. Tyler marked the milestone by saying she was thrilled the song continued to resonate with new generations of listeners.
She is survived by her husband of more than 50 years, Robert Sullivan.