‘Heartbroken’ Catherine Zeta-Jones leads tributes to singer Bonnie Tyler

Oscar-winning actress and Wednesday star Catherine Zeta-Jones has led the tributes to singer Bonnie Tyler, known for hits including Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out for a Hero, who has died at the age of 75.

The popular Welsh powerhouse singer died “unexpectedly” on Wednesday night at a Portugal hospital, “as a result of the illness that she was being treated for”, her family said in a “heartbroken” statement released on the star’s official website.

Zeta-Jones paid her respects on Instagram, saying her heart was “broken” with the news that “our dearest Bonnie Tyler has passed away”.

Tyler is survived by her husband of more than 50 years, Robert Sullivan, who is Zeta-Jones’s cousin.

The Chicago movie star, who shared a photograph of herself with the singer, continued: “A one of kind artist, who so easily could have been a comedian because she was one of the funniest people I ever met.

“Thank you Bonnie for the joy you brought so many. Sleep tight beautiful lady.”

Back in 2000, Zeta-Jones asked Tyler to sing Total Eclipse of the Heart at her wedding to fellow film star Michael Douglas in New York.

Writing on the late singer’s Instagram page, Zeta-Jones also commented: “Our Queen Bonnie….. you were such a part of my life.”

Tyler’s fellow pop star Sir Cliff Richard said he was mourning “another wonderful friend gone too soon”.

“Bonnie’s infectious zest for life entertained so many around the world,” he wrote on social media, describing her as “a good friend to all, including me”.

Rock star Bryan Adams wrote on X that Tyler “had such a great voice”, adding he would “always be grateful of her beautiful version” of his track, Straight From The Heart.

In May, Tyler, from Skewen in south Wales, was placed into an induced coma after having emergency intestinal surgery in Portugal.

Last month, her spokesperson said she was out of the coma but remained “very unwell and in intensive care”.

The official family statement, released on Thursday morning, continued: “We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”

A Downing Street spokesman said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was “saddened” to hear about the death of “one of Britain’s greatest recording artists”.

Describing Tyler as an “iconic figure”, he stressed “she leaves behind a catalogue of music… which continues to touch lives, flood dance floors and fill karaoke booths.”

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the First Minister of Wales called the singer a “true icon”, while Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens called Tyler “the sound of my teenage years”.

Screenwriter and television producer Russell T Davies, who was born in Wales, offered: “What a fabulous Welsh woman!”

Tyler had been due to perform at the Sunshine Festival in Worcester this summer, along with a number of European dates.

She had also been booked to sing at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on 17 December.

Pete Waterman, the Stock Aitken Waterman music producer famous for a string of hits during the 80s with stars including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, likened Tyler’s distinctive vocals to Tina Turner’s.

“She had an amazing voice and was equal to Tina Turner in my opinion,” he told the BBC.

“If you think of Tom Jones, he was the closest Britain had to a soul star, and Bonnie was that too and she was as good as Tina Turner. You could imagine Tina singing Heartache.”

He added that in her early career she was managed by Gordon Mills, “who already had Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck”.

“Like Brian Epstein had done with the Beatles, he had created sort of a Welsh sound and taken on Welsh artists from the clubs, he was a massive impresario.”

Welsh broadcaster Carol Vorderman highlighted Tyler’s spirit, saying: “As a Welsh woman Bonnie and her music represented so much to us, it was about fighting and power and living life without apology.

“May you rest in Musical Glory Bonnie.”

Family friend Owen Money told the BBC the singer “was one of those ladies who just loved life”, and he was “in disbelief” at the news of her death.

The musician and radio presenter said his friendship with Tyler went back decades.

“I’ve known her since before she was famous, in the late 60s when she was starting out in Swansea.

“She’s like family really. I was up her house last summer and the first thing she did was open a bottle of champagne.

“Not only were we friends but we were fans of each other. She was still huge in Europe, Germany, Holland, she was just so good. She’s a Welsh icon.”

Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins, grew up in a council house in Neath.

She was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell in a club in Swansea, and released her first single Lost in France in 1977.

It’s a Heartache, her country-pop ballad released the same year, reached number four on the UK singles chart and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Her biggest hit, the rockier Total Eclipse of the Heart, arrived six years later in 1983 – this time topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

In doing so she became the first Welsh person to score a number one hit in the US.

The dramatic track, penned by Meat Loaf’s lyricist Jim Steinman, was originally titled Vampires in Love, as it had been written for a musical version of Nosferatu.

“I never get tired of singing it,” she recently told BBC News. “I love it because everyone can’t wait to sing it.”

She received a Grammy nomination for the hit, and two further nominations for the album Faster Than the Speed of Night and the single Here She Comes.

Steinman also wrote her other major 1980s pop-rock anthem, the lustful and bombastic Holding Out for a Hero, which was recorded for the Footloose film soundtrack and later appeared in Shrek 2.

Tyler represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, finishing 19th out of 26 acts, and was made an MBE for her services to music in 2023.

Last year, she released a club version of Total Eclipse of the Heart, produced by David Guetta and Hypaton, called Together.

The raspy-voiced singer performed her aptly-titled track on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean as the solar event swept the US in 2017.

And this year – 43 years after its release – the original song passed the billion streams mark on Spotify.

“I’m really happy, when you think about it, there’s only 8.3 billion people in the world,” she said.

But the star noted in January that despite barely seeing a penny from her biggest song, she had never lost her enthusiasm for it.

“I never get tired of singing it, I love it because everyone can’t wait to sing it,” she said.