Bonnie Tyler dead at 75: Total Eclipse of the Heart star passes away in Portugal after emergency surgery which left her in a coma

By AMELIA WYNNE, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER and REBECCA DAVISON, DEPUTY HEAD OF SHOWBIZ and LAURA FOX, ASSOCIATE SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR Published: 10:09, 9 July 2026 | Updated: 12:15, 9 July 2026 Bonnie Tyler has died 'unexpectedly' at the age of 75, weeks after going into cardiac arrest following surgery which left her in an induced coma. The Welsh pop star, whose real name is Gaynor Hopkins, died just months after she was treated in intensive care after being placed in an induced coma following an emergency intestinal surgery. Bonnie's death was announced in a statement by her 'heartbroken' family and team on her website on Thursday, which said she died in hospital in Portugal. The performer was best known for her hits Total Eclipse Of The Heart and Holding Out For A Hero, and she had been due to start a new European tour later this year before falling ill. The statement said: '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.' Bonnie was first admitted to hospital in May to be treated for emergency bowel surgery and a perforated intestine after a burst appendix. Bonnie Tyler has died at the age of 75, weeks after going into cardiac arrest following surgery which left her in an induced coma (pictured in her last public appearance in March) The singer's passing was announced in a message posted on her website and Facebook page A spokesperson for the singer confirmed at the time: 'Bonnie has been put into an induced coma by her doctors to aid her recovery. We know that you all wish her well and ask for privacy at this difficult time please.  'We will issue a further statement when we are able to.' Bonnie's last public performance was in March, when she performed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London.  Following news of Bonnie's death, many fans rushed to the star's final Instagram post, which took on a poignant new meaning in the wake of her death. The Instagram post was a clip of MP Carolyn Harris asking the Leader of the House to join her in wishing the Welsh singer well after news broke in mid-May that she'd been hospitalised. Bonnie had also shared her excitement that she was involved in an original song, One World One Home, for the documentary Homeless. Posting the film's trailer on her Instagram, Bonnie said she was 'grateful' for the chance to perform on the soundtrack.  Vernon Kay also paid tribute to Bonnie on BBC Radio 2, before playing her famous track Holding Out For A Hero. He said: 'Sad news that Bonnie Tyler has passed, so from us on mid-mornings on BBC Radio 2 and everyone on Radio 2, our thoughts are with her family.' Many fans paid tribute on X, writing: 'Such sad news about Bonnie Tyler. She was always one of those ''what you see, is what you get'' pop stars. The big voice, the big hair, big 80s production matched her personality - larger than life, yet down to earth. Farwell to one of Wales' finest performers. 'RIP Bonnie Tyler, thank you for giving us the best Nicholas Galitzine scene ever, Jeff singing to Total Eclipse Of The Heart in Bottoms is iconic. 'Dear Bonnie Tyler, thank you for you magnificent voice, the big smiles, the huge joy you have brought to us over the years. What a gift.' Bonnie was due to perform at the Sunshine Festival in Worcester this summer, along with a number of European dates, and was also booked to perform at Cardiff's Utilita Arena on December 17.  It was first reported that Bonnie had started feeling unwell in May. She had been bedridden for two days at her Algarve home before her worried husband Robert Sullivan took her to the private hospital she was seen at before being transferred to Faro. The singer, who has had multiple hits in her long career and competed at the Eurovision Song Contest representing the UK in 2013, is believed to have been rushed to hospital on April 30.  A day earlier, when her health woes first emerged, the spokesman had said: 'We are very sorry to announce that Bonnie has been admitted to hospital in Faro, Portugal, where she has a home, for emergency intestinal surgery. 'The surgery went well and she is now recuperating. 'We know that all of her family, friends and fans will be concerned about this news and will be wishing her well for a full and swift recovery.' She was said to have been 'stable' in an intermediate care unit at Faro Hospital before an apparent worsening of her health led to her being transferred to intensive care. On June 15, the singer's team said she had woken up from a medically induced coma after suffering a cardiac arrest in Portugal a month previously. They said at the time: 'Bonnie is no longer in a coma, but remains seriously ill. Although her condition is improving, the recovery process is slow.' Sources said she had been maintaining her professional activity in the run-up to being taken to hospital, despite complaining of persistent pain for several weeks. Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping blood, causing it to stop beating and disrupting oxygen flow to the body and brain. It causes instant unconsciousness and collapse. Immediate action involving starting CPR and using a defibrillator where available is essential to prevent death. A ruptured appendix is a severe medical emergency requiring immediate surgical intervention and antibiotics to prevent fatal infections. When an infected appendix ruptures, it creates a hole and causes fecal matter and bacteria to leak into the abdominal cavity. The Welsh songstress was due to start her European tour later this year. Speaking in March, Bonnie spoke about pain she'd been having in her knees, which at the time were her only real health concerns. The singer recently went into cardiac arrest following surgery which left her in an induced coma (pictured in 1986)  Bonnie's last public appearance was in March, when she performed at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire Bonnie was admitted to Faro hospital in May, where she underwent emergency surgery. She went into cardiac arrest last month (the hospital is pictured in May) Bonnie married her husband Robert Sullivan in 1973, after they met while he was managing a nightclub in Swansea She and Robert, who is a former Olympian Judo athlete, split their time between their homes in Portugal and south Wales (pictured in 2001) All Saints star Nicole Appleton was among the first stars to pay tribute to Bonnie after her death Following news of Bonnie's death, many fans paid tribute on X Bonnie, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, was discovered by a talent scout at a club in Swansea and released her first single, Lost in France, in 1977 Her biggest hit was Total Eclipse of the Heart, which topped the chart on both sides of the Atlantic in 1983 and earned her a Grammy nomination (pictured in 1984) Her fifth studio album, Faster Than The Speed of Light, debuted at No. 1 on the UK albums chart and sold more than one million copies in the US (pictured in 1984) The Here She Comes hitmaker represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, coming in 19th place, and received an MBE for services to music in 2023 (pictured) She told Hello!: 'I'm fit enough at the moment, touch wood, and I'm really enjoying doing the shows. 'I'm still rocking on that stage with my wonderful band, and if you've got your health, you've got everything. 'I do home Pilates, only 20 minutes a day - it's something I can do in my hotel rooms. 'I have had problems with my knees; I didn't have new knees, I had what they call washouts [a surgical knee procedure], which turned out to be very successful. So, hopefully that will last for a long time.' Bonnie and property developer Robert split their time between their homes in Portugal and south Wales. She first bought a property in the Algarve in the 1970s having fallen in love with the region while recording an album. In 2009, she knocked down her five-bedroom villa in Albufeira to build a full-frontal glass home with elaborate garden water features. Speaking about the area, she said: 'It's a magical place where you could sail out to sea at midnight and enjoy a barbecue and return to shore in the early hours of the morning to find the local bars still open.' Bonnie and her husband, who is a former Olympian Judo athlete, also owned a number of rental properties in Portugal. Speaking to the Mirror last year, she said: 'I started singing when I was 17 and I never thought I'd still be doing it at this age. I've slowed down a little bit, but I know now that I will never retire. 'Even though I was so lucky because I was in Portugal when the first lockdown was announced, by the end of it, I'd had enough. I was going crazy. I needed to get back out there on the road!' Bonnie previously told the Daily Mail that she inherited her love of music from her mother but it took her a while to overcome her shyness to perform.  She said: 'My mother, Elsie, was a big part of why I became a singer. She had the most beautiful voice; she sounded like Maria Callas. 'I inherited her love of music. But I had no confidence. She used to say to me: 'Believe in yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.' But it took me a long time.' Tyler was born - as Gaynor Hopkins - a coal miner´s daughter in public housing with an outside toilet in Skewen, Wales, about seven miles (11 kilometers) outside Swansea. She grew up with three sisters and two brothers. She adored the Beatles and her first album was A Hard Day´s Night, and she previously shared the first song she bought was Hippy Hippy Shake by the Swinging Blue Jeans at 13 and watched Top of the Pops religiously, according to her memoir, Straight From the Heart. Bonnie shared she would record Top of the Pops on a reel-to-reel two-track recorder and write down the lyrics of songs she loved.  'I used to sing them into my hairbrush for hours and hours, and that´s how it all started for me. I fell in love with singing just from doing that.  'Looking back, even then my voice had a husky tone to it, but I didn´t think much of it. I thought everyone´s voices were different from each others,' she wrote. Bonnie was entered into a local talent competition by her aunt as a teenager and became inspired to pursue a career in singing. At first she found work as a backing singer for various bands and changed her stage name to Sherene Davis to avoid being confused with Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin. Bonnie was then discovered by a talent scout at a club in Swansea and signed a record contract with RCA, which led to her releasing her first single, Lost in France, in 1977.  That same year she developed vocal cord nodules and was forced to undergo surgery, and the star feared she'd never sing again. Luckily, Bonnie recovered well and her first major hit, It's A Heartache, went to number four on the UK singles chart and three on the US Billboard Hot 100. Bonnie was then booked as a support act for Tom Jones off the back of her music success, and like the Sex Bomb star, she has expressed pride at retaining her Wlesh accent, following fears she would need to have elocution lessons. She told The Times in 2025: 'I had some elocution lessons but now I'm delighted that I've kept my accent and that Tom Jones did too.'  Bonnie's second album, Natural Force was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and she then left RCA to join CBS/Columbia in 1982. Bonnie went onto find huge success in mainland Europe during the 1990s, and in recent years has focused on touring the world performing all of her biggest hits The Welsh songstress was due to start her European tour later this year, but was hospitalised to treated for emergency bowel surgery and a perforated intestine in May Her biggest hit was Total Eclipse of the Heart, which topped the chart on both sides of the Atlantic in 1983 and earned her a Grammy nomination.    The song spent four weeks at No. 1, and when Stereogum reevaluated it in 2020, the music outlet declared it an 'extinction-level event rendered in musical form.' 'It´s pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion. It´s sheer spectacle. It´s fireworks and lasers and lightning and thunder. It soars and swoops and barrel-rolls,' the site said. Bonnie worked with Meatloaf songwriter and producer, Jim Steinman, and he borrowed one of the song´s lyrics - 'Turn around, bright eyes' - from his 1969 musical The Dream Engine. 'Jim liked to put down a basic rhythm track, do nine takes of the song, choose the best one and then put the kitchen sink on there, like Phil Spector used to,' Bonnie told The Guardian in 2023.  'He gave me a cassette to listen to in my hotel and we both preferred take two.' The song became a pop culture fixture and was covered by the English singer Nicki French in 1995, and the band Westlife in 2006.  Cate Blanchett sang it while hitting Billy Bob Thornton with her car in 2001's Bandits, it appeared in a wedding scene in 2003's Old School and Jennifer Saunders performed the song in 2004's Shrek 2. Her fifth studio album, Faster Than The Speed of Light, debuted at No. 1 on the UK albums chart and sold more than one million copies in the US. Bonnie went onto find huge success in mainland Europe during the 1990s, and in recent years has focused on touring the world performing all of her biggest hits.  Faster Than the Speed of Night earned a Grammy nomination for best rock vocal performance - losing to Pat Benatar´s Love Is a Battlefield - and Tyler got another nod for Total Eclipse of the Heart in the best pop vocal performance category, losing to Irene Cara's Flashdance - What a Feeling.' Tyler never reached such dizzying heights again but stayed current with such movie soundtrack singles as Holding Out For a Hero - from 1984's Footloose - and Here She Comes from Metropolis, also in 1984. Her 2019 disc Between the Earth and the Stars featured duets with Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Status Quo´s Francis Rossi, and she ended that year performing a Vatican Christmas concert before Pope Francis. Her final studio album was The Best Is Yet to Come, which was released in 2021. Last year, she teamed up with producers David Guetta and Hypaton for a club version of Total Eclipse of the Heart called Together, and earlier this year, the original version passed a billion streams on Spotify. She said at the time: 'I'm really happy, when you think about it, there's only 8.3 billion people in the world.' The Here She Comes hitmaker represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, coming in 19th place, and received an MBE for services to music in 2023.