Bonnie Tyler, Who Passed Away at 75, Earned 'Little to Nothing' From 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' Streams

Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer who defined the sound of 1980s power ballads, has died at the age of 75.

Tyler had been hospitalized near her home in Faro, Portugal, following an emergency intestinal surgery in May. She was placed in an induced coma initially to aid her recovery and emerged roughly a month later, in June, but her family said she remained “very unwell” and continued to receive intensive care.

She died Wednesday in a Portuguese hospital, according to a statement from her family posted to her official Facebook page, which asked for privacy “to deal with this tragedy.”

Tyler’s widespread popularity stemmed from 1983’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, which topped the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. and remains a staple on streaming platforms today, having surpassed one billion streams, with surges tied to real solar eclipses in 2017 and 2024.

During an appearance on Lorraine in February, Tyler surprised viewers by revealing that she earned little to nothing from streaming royalties tied to the song.

Host Lorraine Kelly, visibly taken aback by the reality, offered some reassurance: "They can never take that away from you," she told Tyler, referring to her legacy as the voice behind the era-defining hit.

Tyler also reflected on how the iconic song came together, recalling how much it meant to work with songwriter and producer Jim Steinman.

“So I didn't write that song but Jim Steinman…the first time I heard it, I just like shivers up my spine, you know. I mean, I couldn't believe that he was giving me this song to sing. It was always my dream to work with Meat Loaf's producer, you know, which turned out to be Jim Steinman, and I wanted desperately to work with him.”

She recalled her label being skeptical he’d agree, telling her, “Bonnie, he's never going to do it," to which she replied, "Well, the least you can do is ask him, you know."

Tyler often spoke about how central the song became to her identity. She recalled recording it in New York, describing Steinman’s meticulous process: "The way Jim works is you sing the song through nine times, and you decide which take has got the best feel, which happened to be the second."

The song’s length posed a challenge for radio: the original album version ran well past the typical single length and had to be trimmed to a roughly 4:50 radio edit. While Tyler said she preferred the shorter version, she acknowledged that cutting the original “broke Jim’s heart.”