Bonnie Tyler, one of rock 'n' roll history's all-time great maximalist wailers, has passed away. The New York Times reports that Tyler, best known for hits like "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" and "Holding Out For A Hero," died on Wednesday at a hospital in Portugal, where she lived and where she recently went through emergency intestinal surgery. She remained in intensive care after emerging from an induced coma. Tyler was 75.
Bonnie Tyler was born Gaylor Hopkins in the Welsh village of Skewen. Her father was a coal miner, and she grew up in a council house. Tyler dropped out of school at 16 and went to work in a grocery store. She decided to pursue a music career after coming in second place in a local talent contest, and she started singing in nightclubs. One night, a talent scout heard her and invited her to London to record a demo. That demo earned her a deal with RCA, and that's when she took the Bonnie Tyler stage name.
Tyler's 1976 debut single "My! My! Honeycomb" was not successful, but her follow-up "Lost In France" became a top-10 UK hit after a promotional push from RCA. In 1977, she released her debut album The World Starts Tonight. After touring, she needed vocal-cord surgery, and her bumpy recovery led her voice to achieve a raspy quality that set her apart. After that, she got a lot of comparisons to Rod Stewart. Tyler's country-ish 1977 ballad "It's A Heartache" became an international hit, reaching #3 in the US, and her sophomore album, which had the same title in its American release, went gold.
Bonnie Tyler's next few records were much less successful, so she left RCA for CBS and started working with Meat Loaf collaborator Jim Steinman, who knew exactly what to do with her gigantic voice. Steinman wrote and produced Tyler's 1983 single "Total Eclipse Of The Heart," an overwhelming and anthemic power ballad that became a full-on standard. With its incomprehensibly theatrical music video, "Total Eclipse" set new benchmarks for over-the-top melodrama, and Tyler's gigantic howl and blown-out hair paired beautifully with Steinman's Grand Guignol excesses.
Tyler recorded her Steinman-produced 1984 single "Holding Out For A Hero" for the Footloose soundtrack. At the time, it wasn't a huge American hit, but it's since become nearly as omnipresent as "Total Eclipse," appearing in tons and tons of movies. Just last night, I went to see the new Jackass movie, which does beautiful things with "Holding Out For A Hero." That's another forever song. Tyler went on to record the 1986 album Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire with Steinman and then did 1988's Hide Your Fire with Desmond Child.
Tyler's '90s records were much less successful in the US and UK, but singles like "Bitterblue" and "Against The Wind" did well in mainland Europe. She re-recorded "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" as a 2003 duet with French singer Kareen Antonn, and it became a #1 hit in France. In 2013, she performed "Total Eclipse" on a cruise ship during an actual full solar eclipse. Just last year, she teamed up with EDM producer David Guetta for "Together," a dance track that interpolates "Total Eclipse." On a personal note, she said some very nice things on Twitter when my Number Ones column covered "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" in 2020, and that really made my day.
Check out some of Bonnie Tyler's titanic songs below.
