Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer whose iconic raspy voice turned tracks like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero” into some of the biggest songs of the ‘80s, has died. She was 75.
“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,” said a message posted on Tyler’s official website. In May, the singer had been placed into an induced coma after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.
Born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Wales in 1951, Tyler first broke through in the late ‘70s thanks to her breakout hit “Lost In France” off her debut album The World Starts Tonight through RCA Records. She followed that album with 1978’s Natural Force, which included the lead single “It’s a Heartache.” (The album was released as It’s a Heartbreak in the U.S.) Both the single and the album went gold in the U.S.
Tyler released two more albums with RCA before signing with Columbia, where she released Faster Than the Speed of Night in 1983. That album went platinum and featured what became her biggest hit, the Jim Steinman-penned “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” “Total Eclipse of the Heart” went platinum as well, also earning a Grammy nomination for best female pop vocal performance.
