Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler has died at the age of 75 at Faro Hospital in Portugal, where she had been receiving treatment, her family announced on Wednesday, 9 July.
In a statement shared on the singer's official Facebook page, her family said: "Bonnie's family and team are heartbroken to announce that she passed away unexpectedly last night in a hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness for which she was being treated." The news was subsequently reported by international news agencies including the Associated Press, BBC, Agence France-Presse, and EFE.
Best known for defining 1980s hits such as Total Eclipse of the Heart and It's a Heartache, Tyler had long made the Algarve her second home. She was admitted to Faro Hospital in May following emergency gastrointestinal surgery.
Born Gaynor Hopkins on 8 June 1951 in the village of Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, South Wales, Tyler grew up in a working-class family before embarking on a career that would make her one of Britain's most recognisable voices.
She was discovered by record producer Roger Bell while performing in a nightclub in Swansea and released her debut single, Lost in France, in 1977.
That same year, she found international success with It's a Heartache, but it was Total Eclipse of the Heart, released in 1983, that cemented her place in music history. The power ballad spent two weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart and four weeks at No. 1 in the United States. Earlier this year, the song surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, according to the BBC.
The worldwide success of Total Eclipse of the Heart earned Tyler a Grammy Award nomination, whilst her album Faster Than the Speed of Night and the single Here She Comes also received Grammy recognition.
In 2013, Tyler represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest with Believe in Me, finishing 19th out of 26 finalists.
A decade later, in 2023, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her services to music.
Tyler remained a popular performer throughout her later years and maintained a close connection with Portugal. Amongst her most recent appearances were concerts at Casino Estoril and Campo Pequeno in Lisbon in 2023, followed by performances at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon and the Coliseu do Porto in 2024.
Source: AP
Photo credit: Ragnar Singsaas
