Bonnie Tyler, the Grammy-nominated Welsh singer whose soaring 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” became one of pop music’s most enduring anthems, has died. She was 75.
Tyler died unexpectedly at a hospital in Portugal, where she had been receiving treatment for an illness, her family announced Thursday. She had been hospitalized in May for emergency intestinal surgery and was later placed in an induced coma. Her family had said last month that she was no longer in a coma but remained critically ill.
Born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Wales, Tyler rose to international fame with her signature raspy voice and a string of hits including “It’s a Heartache,” “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.
The Jim Steinman-produced power ballad enjoyed a resurgence during the solar eclipses of 2017 and 2024, helping the song surpass 1 billion streams, while its iconic MTV-era music video also crossed the 1 billion-view mark.
Tyler earned three Grammy nominations during her career, represented the United Kingdom at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2023 for her services to music.
She is survived by her husband, Robert Sullivan, a property developer and former Olympic judo competitor. The couple had been married since 1973.
