With her distinctive husky voice, tousled mane of blonde hair and black eyeliner, Tyler was instantly recognisable as the queen of the 1980s power ballad.
Tyler’s family said on Facebook they were “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.”
Downing Street said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “saddened” to hear of Tyler’s death, calling her “one of Britain’s greatest recording artists,” whose music “continues to touch lives.”
Stars from music and film also paid tribute to Tyler.
Husky-voiced British rock star Rod Stewart wrote on Instagram that he and Tyler “shared similar styles of vocalising,” calling her “a good pal, a true soul stirrer.”
Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is also Welsh, wrote on Instagram that Tyler, who sang at her wedding, was “an extraordinary woman with vocals to match.”
British pop singer Cliff Richard recalled that Tyler’s “infectious zest for life entertained so many around the world,” while Canadian singer Bryan Adams wrote on X that Tyler “had such a great voice” and thanked her for her “beautiful” version of a song he co-wrote.
And classical singer Katherine Jenkins hailed “a true Welsh legend whose unmistakable voice inspired generations and put Wales on the world stage with such power, passion and authenticity.”
Born Gaynor Hopkins in the Welsh town of Neath in 1951 where she grew up with five siblings, Tyler little imagined the success she would have after leaving school at 16.
“The best thing I did was ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. How can you ever possibly imagine it would still be so big today and people who weren’t even born then would be singing it at karaoke?” she told the Daily Telegraph in 2025.
She came from a humble background. Her father worked in the coal mines, while her mother was a housewife.
Initially, Tyler worked in a grocery shop and began singing in her spare time, changing her name to Sherene Davis to avoid any confusion with another Welsh singer, Mary Hopkin.
In 1975, she was spotted by talent scout Roger Bell singing in a Swansea nightclub, and was signed a few months later by RCA records, changing her name again, this time to Bonnie Tyler.
Shortly afterwards she had to have surgery to remove nodules on her vocal cords, and after not resting her voice enough following the operation developed her signature sultry sound.
Tyler’s first major smash hit was “It’s a Heartache” in 1978, and entering the 1980s she turned more towards rock music.
But it was “Total Eclipse”, written by American composer Jim Steinman, which rocketed her to international fame.
It’s one of rock music’s most famous ballads and in 2026 – 43 years after it was first released – it hit more than a billion listens on streaming website Spotify.
It has sold over six million records, and the stirring video has been viewed more than a billion times on YouTube.
At the peak of her fame in 1984, Tyler released “Holding Out for a Hero” from the hit film “Footloose.” (AFP)
