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Bonnie Tyler, the singer known for hits including Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out for a Hero, has died at the age of 75.
Tyler died in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said Thursday in a statement on her website.
“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,” the statement read.
Tyler, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, was hospitalised in May for emergency intestinal surgery and was later placed in an induced coma.
Last month, a spokesperson confirmed Tyler had woken up, but said the singer remained “very unwell and in intensive care”.
Tyler shot to global fame in 1983 following the release of her mega-hit Total Eclipse of the Heart. The single topped the charts in the UK and US, and earned her a Grammy nomination.
In January, four decades after its release, the track surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, after a new generation of fans discovered the song through social media platforms including TikTok.
Tyler was born a coal miner’s daughter in public housing with an outside toilet in Wales, about seven miles outside Swansea. She grew up with three sisters and two brothers.
In 1976, she had surgery to remove nodules on her throat, leaving her with a trademark vocal sound.
Under her new name Bonnie Tyler, her debut album The World Starts Tonight in 1977 contained her first chart hit, Lost in France, and she was nominated for breakthrough artist at the Brits Awards.
She then had a No. 3 hit in 1978 with It’s a Heartache, but her commercial success waned.
She then signed with Sony and saw Meat Loaf perform Bat Out of Hell on the BBC.
Impressed, she requested to work with Meat Loaf songwriter and producer Jim Steinman.
Steinman introduced her to his song Total Eclipse of the Heart, which would become the debut single for her fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night.
In 2013, Tyler represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing 19th out of 26 acts, and was made an MBE a decade later for her services to music.
She had previously announced a tour of Europe this year in celebration of her 1976 track Lost in France, which is approaching its 50th anniversary.
Tyler was married to property developer and former Olympic judo competitor Robert Sullivan.
– With AP
