Bonnie Tyler, the singer best known for 1983’s chart-topping hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” died Wednesday at the age of 75 after a two-month long health battle.
Early in May 2026 Tyler’s official Facebook page revealed she had been placed into a medically induced coma in a Portuguese hospital after emergency surgery for a perforated intestine. A mid-June update stated that she was no longer in the coma, but remained “very unwell” and in intensive care.
On Thursday morning Tyler’s family announced that the singer had died. “Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for,” they wrote. “We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.
Born Gaynor Hopkins on June 8, 1951 in Wales, Tyler’s 1977 debut album The World Starts Tonight yielded the successful singles “Lost in France” and “More Than a Lover.”
Those successes turned out to be stage-setters for Tyler’s first massive hit, “It’s a Heartache,” which reached the Top 5 all over the world early the next year.
After a half-decade of lesser chart success, Tyler teamed up with Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell songwriter / producer Jim Steinman on “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
“Jim told me he started writing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ with Meat Loaf in mind. But in the end he didn’t give it to Meat Loaf he gave it to me! I’m very happy about that, as you can imagine,” Tyler told the Daily Telegraph in 2017.
READ MORE: Rockers We’ve Lost in 2026
“He played it to me in the offices of his manager at the time, in New York. I remember thinking ‘He’s going to give me this song? This is amazing.’ It was a really big turning point in my career.”
Tyler scored several more worldwide hits over the next few years, most notably the Top 40 U.S. single “Holding Out for a Hero” from 1984’s Footloose soundtrack. All told she released 18 studio albums, with the most recent being 2021’s The Best Is Yet to Come.
In a March 2026 interview with Buzz, Tyler acknowledged the fact that “Total Eclipse of the Heart” had surpassed over a billion streams with a blend of gratitude – “Come on, there’s only eight billion people in the world. So yes, it’s quite an achievement” – and pragmatism: “[but] there’s no financial benefit from that. It’s all about live shows these days.”
But her gratefulness was front and center as she talked about still being able to perform live five decades after launching her career: “I’m 74. But I don’t feel it. I feel like I’m in my 40s!”
Watch Bonnie Tyler Perform ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’
Below, see more musicians we’ve lost in 2026 and read about their accomplishments.
Rockers We’ve Lost in 2026
The year has already seen the loss of some amazing talents from the rock and metal world.
Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
