Welsh pop icon Bonnie Tyler dead at 75
Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh pop icon, has died aged 75, a representative has confirmed.
Announcing her death, the spokesperson for Tyler heartbreakingly shared with fans on Facebook on July 9th, “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.”
The statement added, “We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”
The sad announcement comes after the ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ singer was hospitalised in Faro, Portugal, on May 6th, and underwent emergency intestinal surgery, before being placed into a coma.
Subsequently, she fell into cardiac arrest when medical staff previously tried to bring her out of the coma.
Then, on June 15th, five weeks after she entered the hospital, her family and team shared on her website, “Bonnie is no longer in a coma but remains very unwell and in intensive care in a hospital in Portugal. Although her condition is improving it is a slow process.”
While Tyler didn’t get hospitalised until May, it was previously reported in Portugal’s Correio de Manhã that she initially fell ill in March when she returned to the United Kingdom for a concert at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and sought medical assistance upon returning to the Algarve.
Tyler, who released her debut album The World Starts Tonight in 1977, had been a mainstay in the music business throughout the last six decades and remained active until the very end.
Notably, Tyler was awarded an MBE for her services to music in 2023, and also represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest a decade earlier, coming 19th with a total of 23 points accrued.
For Tyler, who was nominated for three Grammys across her career, her greatest achievement was the MBE.
She said at the acceptance ceremony, “I never ever thought I would have something like this, my mother and father would be so proud. To be nominated for a Grammy was wonderful, but to be given an MBE for something I absolutely love doing is a highlight of my career.”
Tyler’s most recent album, The Best Is Yet to Come, arrived in 2021. She had continued to tour and was due to play a series of shows throughout Europe, including two UK festivals, this summer.
In total, Tyler released 18 studio albums over the course of her lengthy career.
She was also adamant that retiring was never an option. While headline Brit Fest in 2024, she explained to the crowd why the Covid-19 pandemic was particularly difficult as a performer, sharing (via Metro), “It was like being retired – but I know I’m not going to retire. I love it. I do it because I love it.”
In an interview with The Times in 2025, she reflected proudly on her career, stating, “I’ve had amazing career highlights. In 1984 I sang live at the Grammys from the top of a large staircase. I was wearing very high heels and a leather minidress. I don’t know how I managed to get down the stairs. I was nervous as hell: there in front of me were Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.”
She continued, “And in 2019 I sang at the Vatican Christmas concert. I sat with Lionel Richie during our audience with the Pope and they put on this incredible dinner. I’m not Catholic but my husband is. We were chuffed.”
Tyler is survived by her husband, Robert Sullivan, who married in 1973, and has partially lived in Portugal since the late 1980s.
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