Bonnie Tyler British Singer (1951–2026)

Early life

Bonnie Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins on 8 June 1951 in Skewen, near Neath in Wales. Her father, Glyndwr, was a coal miner who had served in the Second World War, and her mother, Elsie, kept the household. She grew up in a council house with three sisters and two brothers, and her siblings introduced her to the music of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles. Her first public performance was as a child in a chapel, where she sang a hymn.

She left Rhydhir Comprehensive School in Neath at sixteen and took a job in a grocery shop. In April 1969 her aunt entered her in a local talent contest, where she finished second. That result encouraged her to sing professionally. She worked as a backing vocalist with Bobby Wayne and the Dixies and then formed her own group, Imagination, performing for a time under the name Sherene Davis so as not to be confused with the Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin.

Career

In 1975 a talent scout, Roger Bell, saw her band at a club in Swansea and invited her to record a demo in London. RCA Records later offered her a contract and suggested a new name, and she picked "Bonnie Tyler" from names she had collected from a newspaper. Her first single, "My! My! Honeycomb", was released in April 1976 without reaching the charts. The second, "Lost in France", reached number nine in the United Kingdom and earned her a first appearance on Top of the Pops. Her debut album, The World Starts Tonight, appeared in February 1977, and in November that year she released "It's a Heartache", which reached number four in the UK and number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second album, Natural Force, was released in 1978 and was certified Gold in the United States. In 1979 she won the Grand Prix at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan with "Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean". She left RCA in the early 1980s, as she was unhappy with the label's direction for her.

Tyler signed with CBS/Columbia and chose the songwriter and producer Jim Steinman to work with on her comeback. The result was Faster Than the Speed of Night (1983), which went to number one on the UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, "Total Eclipse of the Heart", sold more than 13 million copies worldwide. In 1984 she recorded "Holding Out for a Hero" for the Footloose soundtrack, and her recording of "Here She Comes", written for a restored version of the film Metropolis, brought a Grammy nomination. Later in the decade she released Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire and Hide Your Heart, and she took part in the charity record "Let It Be" by Ferry Aid in 1987.

From 1990 she worked with Hansa and BMG Ariola, and her focus moved to continental Europe. The album Bitterblue (1991), partly written and produced by Dieter Bohlen, topped the charts in Austria and Norway. Angel Heart and Silhouette in Red followed in 1992 and 1993. In 2003 she recorded a French-English version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with Kareen Antonn, titled "Si demain... (Turn Around)", which reached number one in France and Belgium. The album Wings was released in 2005.

Tyler represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in 2013 with "Believe in Me", from her album Rocks and Honey, and placed 19th in the final. She reunited with the producer David Mackay for Between the Earth and the Stars (2019), which included duets with Rod Stewart, Francis Rossi and Cliff Richard, and for The Best Is Yet to Come (2021). Her memoir, Straight from the Heart, was published in September 2023, and the live album In Berlin followed in April 2024. In 2025 she released "Together", produced by David Guetta and Hypaton, and her last original song, "One World One Home", came out in April 2026 for a documentary about homelessness. Tyler died on 8 July 2026.

Recognition

Tyler received a Brit Award nomination for best British female newcomer in 1977 and three Grammy nominations. She was named Best International Singer at the Goldene Europa awards in 1993, won an Echo Pop Award in 1994 as best international rock and pop female artist, and received a Lifetime Achievement Steiger Award in 2005. In 2013 she became the only United Kingdom entrant to win a Eurovision Song Contest Radio Award, and the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors gave her its Gold Badge. She became a freeman of Neath Port Talbot in 2011, received an honorary doctorate of letters from Swansea University in 2013, and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for services to music.

Personal life

Tyler married Robert Sullivan, a property developer who had competed in judo at the 1972 Olympics, in July 1973. They remained together until her passing and had no children. From 1988 the couple owned a home in the Algarve in Portugal, where they spent much of the year. She also worked as a patron of the Bobath Children's Therapy Centre in Cardiff.