Bonnie Tyler

Bonnie Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins (Swansea, 8 June 1951), is a British singer from Wales, known for massive hits such as “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, “It's A Heartache” and “Holding Out For A Hero”, which alone have sold over 12 million copies. Over her five-decade career she has released more than 20 albums. In 2013, after nearly 40 years in the business, she represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Believe In Me”.

Growing up in Skewen, a small village near Swansea, as a teenager Bonnie was influenced by the great female voices of the Sixties, in particular Tina Turner and Janis Joplin. After spending several years performing in pubs and local clubs across South Wales, first with Bobbie Wayne & the Dixies and later with her own band, Imagination, she was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell in 1974. RCA launched her recording career two years later with her debut single “My! My! Honeycomb”. Her first real hit, however, came with “Lost In France”, written by her managers Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe.

After further success with the follow-up singles “More Than A Lover” and “Heaven”, Bonnie finally broke into the Billboard charts with “It's A Heartache”, which reached No. 3 in the United States.

Of the four albums Bonnie recorded for RCA, “Natural Force” was the most successful, selling over half a million copies in the United States. Ready to embrace the new decade, Bonnie moved to CBS to work with composer and producer Jim Steinman in the early Eighties. Their celebrated collaboration produced the international hit “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, a multi-platinum single that became a classic and was included on her fifth LP, “Faster Than The Speed Of Night”, which saw Tyler become the first British female artist to debut at No. 1 on the UK albums chart.

During the Eighties, she recorded several songs for film soundtracks, including the hit “Holding Out For A Hero” for “Footloose” and the Grammy-nominated single “Here She Comes” for the soundtrack of the restored version of “Metropolis”. In 1986, she returned to work with Jim Steinman on the album “Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire”, which performed well in Europe, going gold in France. “Hide Your Heart”, her third album for CBS, produced by Desmond Child, features several songs that went on to become hits for other artists, including “The Best” for Tina Turner and “Save Up All Your Tears” for Cher.

In the Nineties, Bonnie signed with the German label Hansa Records for three albums. The first, “Bitterblue”, rivalled the success of the career-defining “Faster Than The Speed Of Night” in some European countries. Her subsequent releases “Angel Heart” and “Silhouette In Red” also went platinum in parts of Europe.

Bonnie reunited with Jim Steinman in 1995 after signing with EastWest, recording epic covers of his classics such as “Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All)” and “Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad” for her album “Free Spirit”. Her second album with EastWest, titled “All In One Voice”, came out just before the new millennium: a pop record with Celtic influences, recorded in Dublin and Hamburg, featuring a cover of “I Put A Spell on You”, produced by Mike Batt.

In the early 2000s, Bonnie signed a deal with EMI to record “Heart Strings”, an album of classic rock covers with her touring band and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. She then recorded her next two pop-rock albums, “Simply Believe” and “Wings”, with producers Jean Lahcene and Stuart Emerson.

In 2013, she released “Rocks And Honey”, a country-tinged album recorded at the legendary Blackbird Studios in Nashville with David Huff. Six years later came “Between The Earth And The Stars”, another pop-rock record referencing moments from her 50-year career, recorded with David Mackay, producer of her first two albums back in the Seventies; the album also features three duets with Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Francis Rossi.

Her next album, “The Best Is Yet To Come”, arrived in February 2021, its release delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Bonnie is currently working on new music and preparing to publish a new memoir about her life and career. In October 2023 she launched a new tour marking 40 years of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”.

Over the course of his career he has received numerous accolades. In 1994 he received an Echo Music Prize as “Best International Pop/Rock Female Artist”. She has also received three Golden Europa awards, three Grammy and Brit nominations, two Ama nominations and one Acm nomination. She received an honorary degree from Swansea University and was awarded a Gold Badge by Basca (now The Ivors Academy). After taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest with “Believe in Me” in 2013, Bonnie won two Esc Radio Awards for “Best Song” and “Best Singer”.

Since 1973 she has been married to judoka Robert Sullivan, cousin of David Jones, Catherine Zeta Jones's father.

(Fonte principale: bonnietyler.com)

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