Bonnie
Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins in the Welsh town of Neath on June 8, 1951 where she grew up with five siblings and little imagined the success she would have after leaving school at 16. She came from a humble working class background. Her father worked in the coal mines, while her mother was a housewife.
Initially, Tyler worked in a grocery store and began singing in her spare time, changing her name to Sherene Davis to avoid any confusion with another Welsh singer Mary Hopkin (Those were the days my friend).
In April 1969, Hopkins was entered into a local talent competition by her aunt and came second to an accordionist. Inspired to pursue a singing career, she worked as a backing singer for Bobby Wayne & the Dixies before forming her own band, Imagination.
In 1975, Davis was spotted singing with her band in the Townsman Club in Swansea, Wales, by talent scout Roger Bell, who invited her to London to record a demo track. After several months, she received a phone call from RCA Records offering her a recording contract. They recommended that she change her name again. After compiling a list of surnames and first names from a newspaper, Davis chose the name “Bonnie Tyler”.
Shortly afterwards she had to have surgery to remove nodules on her vocal cords, and after not resting her voice enough following the operation developed her signature sultry sound.
Lucky Breaks
In September 1976, as part of a promotional campaign for Tyler’s next single, “Lost in France”, RCA allocated £4,000 for a strategic initiative that involved sending 30 music journalists and radio DJs to Le Touquet, France where they met Tyler over a four-course meal. “Lost in France” peaked at No. 9 in the UK and led to Tyler’s first appearance on Top of the Pops. “More Than a Lover” followed in January 1977. Due to the perceived sexual nature of its lyrics, it was banned from the new British children’s TV series, Get It Together. Though surprised, Tyler said she was grateful for the “extra publicity”. It peaked at No. 27 in the UK.
Tyler’s debut album, The World Starts Tonight, was released in February 1977. To promote it, she embarked on her first UK tour as a guest artist with Gene Pitney. The album failed to chart in the UK, but climbed to No. 2 in Sweden. In spring 1977, Tyler underwent surgery to remove vocal-cord nodules and was advised by her doctor to rest her voice for six weeks. But she screamed in frustration one day, resulting in a permanent raspy tone.
In July 1977, Tyler released her fourth single, “Heaven”, which peaked at no. 24 in Germany. She attributed its underwhelming performance elsewhere to the death of Elvis Presley in August 1977, after which RCA redirected its focus to reissuing Presley’s back catalogue.
“It’s a Heartache” followed in November 1977 and became Tyler’s breakthrough single, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Here Am I” was released in April 1978 and peaked at No. 4 in Norway. Her first tour of the United States took place in July 1978, including several nights at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles supporting Wales’ countryman Tom Jones. Tyler’s second studio album, Natural Force, was released in May 1978. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales of over half a million copies.
The success of It’s a Heartache turned her more towards rock music and it was “Total Eclipse”, written and produced by American composer Jim Steinman, also known for his collaborations with MEATLOAF, rocketed her to international fame.
It’s one of rock music’s most famous ballads and in 2026 — 43 years after it was first released — it hit more than a billion listens on streaming website Spotify.
It has sold over thirteen million copies, and the stirring video has been viewed more than a billion times on YouTube.
At the peak of her fame in 1984, Tyler released Steinman written “Holding Out for a Hero” from the hit film “Footloose“.
Her other successful singles during this period included “Here She Comes” from the 1984 soundtrack to Metropolis and “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)”, written by Desmond Child and produced by Steinman. She had success in mainland Europe during the 1990s with Dieter Bohlen, who wrote and produced her hit “Bitterblue”. In 2003, Tyler re-recorded “Total Eclipse of the Heart” with singer Kareen Antonn; their bilingual duet, titled “Si demain… (Turn Around)”, topping the French charts.
In 2013 she carried UK hopes in the Eurovision song contest with “Believe In Me” only to finish 19th.
After reuniting with the producer David Mackay, she released Between the Earth and the Stars (2019) and The Best Is Yet to Come (2021).
A fan of Tina Turner and French rocker Johnny Hallyday, Tyler was known for her down‑to‑earth nature and for keeping her Welsh accent.
Since the 1970s, she and her husband, former olympic judo athlete Robert Sullivan, divided their time between Wales and the Algarve in Portugal.
She was also awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
“I live a very normal life and don’t go around with bodyguards; I’m not Mariah Carey, darling. I’m always happy to take a selfie in front of the salad counter,” she told The Times in 2025.
“People ask me if I get tired singing the old songs, but why wouldn’t I love singing something like ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’? As soon as I start one of those numbers, the whole audience sings it back to me — it’s magic.”“The best thing I did was ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. How can you ever possibly imagine it would still be so big today and people who weren’t even born then would be singing it at karaoke?” she told the Daily Telegraph in 2025.
She released 17 studio albums and was nominated for three Grammy Awards during her career.
Bonnie Tyler died on July 8, 2026 in Faro, Algarve, Portugal from complications of an intestinal operation for which she had been put into a coma. She was 75.
With her distinctive husky voice, tousled mane of blonde hair and black eyeliner, Tyler was instantly recognizable as the queen of the 1980s power ballad.
Tyler’s family said on Facebook they were “heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for”.
Tributes:
Downing Street said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “saddened” to hear of Tyler’s death, calling her “one of Britain’s greatest recording artists”, whose music “continues to touch lives”.
Stars from music and film also paid tribute to Tyler.
Husky-voiced British rock star Rod Stewart wrote on Instagram that he and Tyler “shared similar styles of vocalizing”, calling her “a good pal, a true soul stirrer”.
Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is also Welsh, wrote on Instagram that Tyler, who sang at her wedding, was “an extraordinary woman with vocals to match”.
British pop singer Cliff Richard recalled that Tyler’s “infectious zest for life entertained so many around the world”, while Canadian singer Bryan Adams wrote on X that Tyler “had such a great voice” and thanked her for her “beautiful” version of a song he co-wrote.
And classical singer Katherine Jenkins hailed “a true Welsh legend whose unmistakable voice inspired generations and put Wales on the world stage with such power, passion and authenticity”
