Born Gaynor Hopkins on June 8 1951, Tyler was raised in the village Skewen, near Neath in Wales. From a young age she loved rock music, and held aspirations of being in a band while singing at rugby and working men’s clubs. In 1975, while performing at a club under the name Sherene Davis, she was identified by talent scout Roger Bell, who offered her a recording contract with RCA Records. From there, she chose the new stage name Bonnie Tyler, and stormed into number 9 on the UK Chart with her second single ‘Lost In France’.

Her biggest hit came when songwriter Jim Steinman, who composed Meat Loaf’s 14-times platinum 1977 rock opera ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, gave her ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, an epic power ballad released in 1983. Tyler said of the song “The first time I heard it was when Jim Steinman just played it on the piano in New York, he sang the song all the way through and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this song is amazing. I can’t believe Jim is giving it to me’. The composition was originally a whopping 8 minutes in length, which led her to think “when I recorded the song, I thought no-one is going to end up playing this because it’s so long.” But when it was trimmed to a four minute radio edit, it spent 2 weeks as a Number One in the UK and 4 in the US, making her the first Welsh artist to top the American charts and selling over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.

Her later singles included ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ from 1984, which was produced for the movie Footloose’s soundtrack, 1984’s ‘Here She Comes’, and 1986 track ‘If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man)’. She released her 16th album ‘Rocks and Honey’ in 2013, and was chosen to perform its single ‘Believe in Me’ at that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Her accolades include three BRIT nominations, three Grammy nominations, and an MBE which she received in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.

In May this year, Tyler was scheduled to begin a 30-date tour when she was rushed into emergency intestinal surgery in Faro, Portugal, where she lived. As a result, she was placed in a medically-induced coma to aid her recovery, which she came out of in June, though she struggled with her recovery as a spokesperson for her said she was “very unwell and in intensive care”. A statement was made this morning announcing that Bonnie Tyler had passed away aged 75 – it reads “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. We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”

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Tributes have poured out from across the world of music and culture today. One of the most heartfelt was from Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones – Tyler’s husband who she is survived by, Robert Sullivan, is Zeta-Jones’ cousin, and Tyler performed ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ at her wedding to fellow actor Michael Douglas in 2000. On her post on Instagram, Zeta-Jones wrote “A one of kind artist, who so easily could have been a comedian because she was one of the funniest people I ever met. Thank you Bonnie for the joy you brought so many. Sleep tight beautiful lady.” Pop star Sir Cliff Richards described her as “another wonderful friend gone too soon. Bonnie’s infectious zest for life entertained so many around the world.” while rock singer Bryan Adams posted on X that Tyler “had such a great voice” and thanked her for her 1983 cover version of his song ‘Straight From The Heart’, which appeared on her album ‘Faster Than the Speed of Night’.

Speaking to her fans on Instagram, Tyler wrote “Very excited to release my latest album today. Hope you enjoy hearing these songs as much as we enjoyed making them! 2020 was a hard year for the entire world. For me, personally not being able to perform and see all the wonderful fans has been hard, but compared to so many who have suffered loss of loved ones, my loss is nothing. I want to reach out to all of you who have battled through a year none of us could have imagined possible. I can’t wait to get back on stage with my band and team and look towards better times together. The BEST is YET TO COME.”

‘The Best Is Yet to Come’ is out now. Hope you enjoy hearing these songs as much as we enjoyed making them!
I want to reach out to all of you who have battled through a year none of us could have imagined possible.
The BEST is YET TO COME.
Bonnie https://t.co/nInZzIlbU1 pic.twitter.com/jmnZLZ4Nbg

— Bonnie Tyler (@BonnieTOfficial) February 26, 2021

The album quite literally wears its 1980s influences on its sleeve, with the artwork hinting at an aesthetic that is more Miami Vice than West Glamorgan. For lead single When the Lights Go Down, released last December, Tyler told Ultimate Classic Rock that she had aimed to channel the sound of Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart to create a ‘timeless rock feel‘. It was also a case of ‘back to the future’ on follow-up single The Best Is Yet To Come, which Retro Pop described as a “slice of ’80s new wave perfection” replete with “pulsing synths and a harmony laden sing-a-long chorus that proves irresistible.”

To coincide with the album release, Tyler released the third single from the record today – Dreams Are Not Enough. The 80s feel is again in full flow, with echoes of the driving pop-rock vibe that once powered radio-friendly for Bon Jovi, Starship, Meatloaf, Belinda Carlisle and Pat Benatar.

Like so many vocalists from her homeland, Tyler (whose real name is Gaynor Hopkins) attained her musical education through a South Walian chapel upbringing. The Skewen product would later enter local talent contests and form her own soul band, Imagination. Her big break came in 1975, when she was spotted performing in a Swansea club by talent scout Roger Bell and invited to record a demo in London. A year later, Tyler released her breakthrough single, Lost In France, which reached number #9 in the UK.

In 1977 her distinctive Janis Joplin-esque tones went global with It’s A Heartache, a number one single in Australia, Canada, France and Scandinavia; and a top 5 hit in the UK and the USA. Even greater commercial success came in 1983 with the epic pop ballad Total Eclipse of the Heart, a transatlantic chart-topper that shifted over a million copies in the UK alone. Tyler would enjoy further 1980s top ten hits in Britain with A Rockin’ Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love) – a collaboration with compatriot Shakin’ Stevens – and Holding Out For A Hero.

The singer remained prolific over the decades to follow, enjoying a surprise smash hit France in 2002 with Si demain… (Turn Around), a duet with Kareen Antonn that topped the French charts for some three months. She went on to represent the UK in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden with Believe In Me; a song co-written by Desmond Child, who had previously conjured hits for the likes of Cher, Ricky Martin, Bon Jovi, Kiss and Aerosmith. Prior to her latest release this week, Tyler’s last studio album was 2019’s Between The Earth and the Stars.