After nearly six decades and 16 albums of great music, Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler has passed away, aged 75. Born Gaynor Hopkins in 1951, Bonnie Tyler released her first album in 1977. Her first hit was the song It’s a Heartache, which hit number four on the UK singles chart and number three on the U.S. Billboard Top 100. In the 1980s, she really broke out with what is probably her best-known song, Total Eclipse of the Heart (Turn Around) which had a really great sound. This was the lead single from her 1983 album Faster Than the Speed of Light, which sold over three million copies.
I always liked Bonnie’s style, and most of all, her voice, a deep, rich, resonant voice, quite unlike the high-pitched tones many female vocalists use. Several of her songs still feature prominently on my 17-hour-long Classic Rock playlist on Spotify.
Here, then, are some of my favorite Bonnie Tyler tunes.
Lost In France (1976): This was Bonnie’s second single and her first chart hit. The song was released as a single in 1976, America’s bicentennial year – yes, that’s right, 50 years ago. The song became the keystone of Bonnie’s first album, The World Starts Tonight, in 1977. It’s a lovely tune, the tale of a young woman lost in love.
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It’s A Heartache (1977): Written by Bonnie’s managers, Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, this song showcased a somewhat new sound for Bonnie; in 1976, she had surgery for a problem not unusual for singers, nodules in her throat, developed while she was singing in smoky nightclubs in Wales. In Bonnie’s case, though, the result of the surgery was that distinct, smoky rasp in her voice that she turned into her trademark.
Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Turn Around) (1983): This song is one that Bonnie is best-known for, but the writer of the tune, Jim Steinman, originally offered the song to Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf’s record company wanted him to write his own tune, so this one went to Bonnie Tyler. The song is reportedly an homage to the 1922 vampire film Nosferatu:
Steinman rarely divulged the meaning behind his lyrics, but he did say this one was a tribute to the 1922 vampire film Nosferatu, an adaptation of the Dracula story. This helps explain the "love in the dark" that permeates the song. The singer is on edge, at times lonely, nervous, and terrified. She calls out for her lover, ready to join him in a forever that may be more than metaphorical (vampires are immortal). When he comes for her, it's a total eclipse of the heart. Forever starts tonight.
Holding Out For A Hero (1984): Many of us who were kicking around in the mid-1980s might remember this tune from the Kevin Bacon movie Footloose, in which it featured prominently. I always remember it from the FM radio stations of the day. Writer Dean Pitchford said about the song:
We decided that we were going to go after Bonnie Tyler, who was not even really happening at the time. I had fallen in love with Bonnie Tyler because she'd sung 'It's a Heartache,' and the song 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' was a hit in Australia when I heard it, but it had not broken in the United States yet. But when we went to try to find her, nobody at Columbia Records knew who had signed her and where she was.
They finally did track Bonnie down; the rest is history.
Save Up All Your Tears (1988): This song, written by Desmond Child and Diane Warren, combined Bonnie’s raspy voice with some tear-jerking lyrics, of the kind that were common in the 1980s. At least three major female vocalists recorded versions, including Cher and Robin Beck, but I like Bonnie’s take on it best.Read More: Start Your Weekend Right With Six Tunes We All Remember From Great Movies
Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All) (1995): Bonnie’s recording here is a cover of a 1983 release by the fluff-band Air Supply, but again, I like Bonnie’s take on it a lot better. For a while, Air Supply’s version was on the charts at the same time as Bonnie’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, giving songwriter Jim Steinman a pretty good brag point.
And, finally, one from just last year:Yes I Can (2025): Finally, what may be Bonnie’s swan song. In 2025, she clearly still had the singing chops. Sadly, the song was written by Hannah McNeil after a visit with her oncologist; McNeil later died of cancer. Bonnie recorded the song in late 2024, releasing it as a single on New Year’s Day, 2025.
Bonnie fell ill and, eventually, passed away, a little over a year later.
It’s a sad day in rock & roll when someone of this stature passes. I’m sure many of you have some Bonnie Tyler memories and favorites to share; as always, the comments are all yours.
