Bonnie Tyler, Who Sang "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Has Died at 75
Bonnie Tyler died Wednesday night in a hospital in Faro, Portugal, where she lived, her family and team confirmed in a statement posted to her official social media accounts. The cause was complications from the illness she had been hospitalized for since May.
Tyler underwent emergency surgery in May for a perforated intestine and was placed in a medically induced coma. Her family said last month that she had emerged from the coma but remained in intensive care and "very unwell." Her statement described her death as unexpected, coming as a result of the same underlying illness.
The Welsh singer built her career on a small handful of songs that became genuinely inescapable: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" hit No. 1 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts in 1983 and has since passed 1 billion streams, a total boosted twice by real solar eclipses in 2017 and 2024 that sent the song back up streaming charts on its own timing. "Holding Out for a Hero" and "It's a Heartache" rounded out the run of hits that made her, alongside producer and songwriter Jim Steinman, one of the defining voices of early-'80s rock-pop. She earned three Grammy nominations across her career and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2023.
Tributes arrived quickly and from a wide range of public figures. A spokesperson for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called her "one of Britain's greatest recording artists." Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose cousin Tyler was married to, wrote that Tyler had sung at her wedding and that she was "an extraordinary woman with vocals to match." Welsh broadcaster Carol Vorderman described Tyler as representing a generation of women who "had to fight for almost everything," calling her "this super cool rock chick with wild hair and without apology." Rod Stewart, Sir Cliff Richard and Wales' secretary of state Jo Stevens also posted tributes, several noting the specific gravel-toned voice that led to Tyler's longtime nickname, "the female Rod Stewart."
Tyler is survived by her husband, Robert Sullivan. No funeral details had been announced as of this writing.
