WELSH SINGER BONNIE Tyler, best known for her hits Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out for a Hero, has died aged 75. 

A statement on her website reads: “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.”

It added: “We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”

In May, the singer was placed in an induced coma following an emergency intestinal surgery in Faro. 

Last month, her spokesperson said she was no longer in a coma but remained “very unwell and in intensive care”.

Tyler, whose real name is Gaynor Hopkins, was born on 8 June 1951 in Skewen, Neath, in South Wales, the daughter of Glyndwr Hopkins, a coal miner, and his wife, Elsie.

She grew up in a council house with three sisters and two brothers whose musical tastes included Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beatles – although her favourites were Janis Joplin and Tina Turner, both powerful female singers.

In 1975, she was spotted performing in the Townsman Club in Swansea by talent scout Roger Bell who invited her to London to record a demo tape.

Months later she was offered her first recording contract by RCA who advised her to change her name. She came up with “Bonnie Tyler” from a list of first names and surnames picked from a newspaper.

Tyler performing in 1983. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Her debut single My! My! Honeycomb was not successful, but the follow-up – Lost In France – became her first hit, reaching number nine in the UK singles chart, leading to her debut appearance on Top Of The Pops.

Shortly afterwards, she began to develop a sore throat and was told by a doctor that she had developed nodules on her vocal cords as the result of so much singing. He said the only option was for them to be surgically removed.

Once the operation was done, she was told she would have to rest her voice completely for six weeks. But it proved to be an impossible demand. After one anguished scream of frustration, she returned to be told that she may have suffered permanent damage.

When it finally healed and she tried to sing again, her voice had changed. Her already husky tones had acquired a new gravelly rasp – and her producers loved it.

“When I went into the studio they all said, ‘Bloody hell, where’s that voice come from?’” she later recalled. “I now sounded like a female Rod Stewart.”

The release in November 1977 of It’s A Heartache sealed her success, getting to number three in the US and four in the UK, selling around six million copies worldwide.

Her biggest hit came six years later. Total Eclipse Of The Heart, the soaring over-the-top ballad, shot to the top of the charts in the UK and US.

The song was written and produced by Jim Steinman, best-known as Meat Loaf’s producer, who admitted that even he thought it went a bit too far to be a popular success.

“I never thought it had a prayer as a single,” he told People magazine in the US.

“It was an aria to me, a Wagnerian-like onslaught of sound and emotion. I wrote it to be a showpiece for her voice.”

Steinman also wrote and produced her follow-up single – Holding Out For A Hero – which featured in the movie Footloose and provide her with another massive hit.

Tyler’s 1983 album Faster Than The Speed Of Night went straight to number one in the UK album chart, reaching number three in the US, while Total Eclipse Of The Heart became one of the biggest-selling singles of all time.

She was nominated for a Grammy award for the song, and received a further two further nominations.

She released many other hit songs over the years, including It’s A Heartache and If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man).

In the late 1990s, she recorded approximately half of her album All in One Voice at Full Moon, Westland, and Park House studios in Dublin

She represented the UK in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, with the song Believe In Me, finishing in 19th place.

In 2019, she was invited to perform in front of Pope Francis at the Vatican’s annual Concerto di Natale – an event she described as a career highlight.

She continued to tour around Europe and was due to perform at Sunshine Festival in Worcester this summer.

She is survived by her husband of more than 50 years Robert Sullivan.

With reporting from Press Association