Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer known for hits including “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero,” died on July 8 at a hospital near her home in Faro, Portugal. She was 75. Her family announced the death in statements posted on her website and Facebook page.
Tyler had been hospitalized since May following emergency intestinal surgery. She spent two months in intensive care after doctors placed her in an induced coma. The family statement said she died unexpectedly as a result of the illness she was being treated for.
Born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Wales, Tyler rose to fame in the late 1970s with “It’s a Heartache.” Her 1983 collaboration with songwriter Jim Steinman produced the chart-topping power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Holding Out for a Hero” from the Footloose soundtrack became another signature track in 1984.
Her husband, property developer Robert Sullivan, survives her. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sullivan’s cousin, posted a tribute on Instagram describing Tyler as “an extraordinary woman with vocals to match” and one of the funniest people she had met.