Fans gathered outside a Welsh church Monday to remember Bonnie Tyler, the husky-voiced singer celebrated as a worldwide star. Her funeral, an invite-only service at Swansea Minster, featured music from her career, including "If I Sing You A Love Song" and "It’s a Heartache," as her rose-covered coffin was brought inside.
Her manager, Matthew Davis, described Tyler as "a star but never a diva," emphasizing that she "never forgot her roots or where she came from." He noted her amazement and gratification at the global outpouring of love following her sudden passing.
Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins, died last month in Portugal at age 75. She had been hospitalized for emergency intestinal surgery. Her signature power ballad, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," released in 1983, earned her a Grammy nomination and has accumulated over a billion streams, significantly boosted by recent solar eclipses.
The funeral service occurred less than a week after her song provided the soundtrack for celebrations of the recent total solar eclipse that crossed parts of Europe. Days earlier, crowds lined the streets in her seaside Welsh village of Mumbles as her coffin, draped in a Welsh flag, was brought home.
Kathleen Davies, among the mourners outside the church, recalled Tyler as being "down to earth" and "Welsh through and through," noting her authenticity.
Tyler's origins trace back to Skewen, near Swansea, where she was born the daughter of a coal miner and grew up in public housing. Her musical journey began in the late 1960s with a performance at a rugby club, where she won one pound for singing "Those Were The Days." This early experience, according to a eulogy written by her family, ignited her passion for performing.
Over her career, Tyler received three Grammy nominations and represented Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II honored her as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to music, largely due to the enduring success of "Total Eclipse of the Heart." She is also remembered for her hit "Holding Out For a Hero," featured in the film "Footloose."