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.
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