Bonnie Tyler, who sang hits like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out For A Hero,” has died. She was 75.
Her manager, Matt Davis, confirmed the news to USA TODAY. “Bonnie’s family and team are 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,” he said on Tuesday.
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“We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”
Tyler was admitted to a hospital in Faro, Portugal, for emergency intestinal surgery in May. The Welsh singer spent a month in an induced coma before waking “very unwell” in June, Davis said.
Born Gaynor Hopkins, Tyler was nominated for three Grammy Awards throughout the course of her career. She broke out in the late 1970s with songs like “It’s a Heartache” and “Lost in France,” then became a radio mainstay with “Holding Out For A Hero” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” the latter of which spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 after its July 1983 release.
After Tyler underwent an operation to remove vocal cord nodules in 1977, she was ordered to rest her voice. But one day she screamed in anger, permanently altering it, Reuters reports. The result was the gravelly tone that made her singing instantly recognizable.
Tyler married property developer Robert Sullivan in 1973. “I am still very much in love with him and he with me,” she said 40 years later. They were married 53 years until her death this week. The couple did not have children.
She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2023 for her services to music. Prince William presented her with the honor during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.
