Bonnie Tyler, 80s icon known for singing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', dies at 75

Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, best known for the hit songs “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero”, has died aged 75, according to a statement released by her family and team.

Tyler died on Wednesday in a hospital in Portugal, where she had been receiving treatment for an illness.

“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, published on her official website and Facebook page, read. “We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”

Tyler had reportedly been admitted to hospital in Faro, Portugal, in May for emergency intestinal surgery.

She was later placed in a medically induced coma before regaining consciousness in June. However, updates shared on her official Facebook page said she remained “very unwell and in intensive care”.

Born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Wales, Tyler rose to international fame with her 1977 debut album The World Starts Tonight, which featured the hit single “Lost in France”. Following surgery to remove vocal cord nodules early in her career, she developed the distinctive raspy voice that became her trademark.

Tyler achieved worldwide success in the 1980s through her collaboration with producer Jim Steinman.

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” became one of the decade's defining hits, while “Holding Out for a Hero” featured on the soundtrack to the 1984 film Footloose.

Her recording of “Here She Comes” also earned a Grammy nomination after appearing on the soundtrack to Giorgio Moroder's restoration of Metropolis.

In later years, Tyler represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 with “Believe in Me”, released her 18th studio album, The Best Is Yet to Come, in 2021, and published her autobiography, Straight From the Heart, in 2023.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Sullivan, whom she married in 1973.