LONDON: Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, best known for her powerful, haunting love song Total Eclipse of the Heart, has died aged 75 in hospital in Portugal, her family announced on Thursday.

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”.

She had been in hospital in Faro in Portugal, where she had undergone emergency intestinal surgery in May. Downing Street said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “saddened” to hear of the death of Tyler, calling her “one of Britain’s greatest recording artists”, whose music “continues to touch lives”.

Canadian singer Bryan Adams was one of the first stars to pay tribute, writing on X that Tyler “had such a great voice” and thanking 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. Tyler said she inherited her talent from her mum.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2026