LONDON — Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer best known for the 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” died Wednesday in a hospital in Portugal after an illness, her family announced Thursday. She was 75.
Tyler, whose birth name was Gaynor Hopkins, died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Faro, where she owned a home. Her family said she had undergone emergency intestinal surgery in May and was later placed in an induced coma.
“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,” her family said in a statement.
Tyler rose to international fame with “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which topped music charts in 1983 and became her signature song. The single spent four weeks at No. 1 and later surpassed one billion streams, while its music video also exceeded one billion views.
She earned three Grammy Award nominations during her career. In 2013, she represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Believe in Me,” finishing 19th. Queen Elizabeth II appointed her a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2023 for her services to music.
Born in Skewen, Wales, Tyler began her recording career in the late 1970s. Her debut album, The World Starts Tonight, produced the hit “Lost in France,” followed by “It’s a Heartache,” which reached No. 3 on the charts in 1978.
After signing with Sony, Tyler worked with songwriter and producer Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” The song became the lead single from her 1983 album Faster Than the Speed of Night and remains her biggest commercial success.
She also recorded “Holding Out for a Hero” for the 1984 film Footloose and “Here She Comes” for the film Metropolis.
Tyler continued recording and performing throughout her career. Her 2019 album Between the Earth and the Stars featured collaborations with Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Francis Rossi of Status Quo. She also performed at a Vatican Christmas concert before Pope Francis later that year.
In 2017, Tyler joined Joe Jonas’ band DNCE on a cruise timed with a total solar eclipse, where they performed “Total Eclipse of the Heart” as the moon passed in front of the sun.
Tyler is survived by her husband, Robert Sullivan, a property developer and former Olympic judo competitor.