Then & Now: What Total Eclipse Of The Heart Singer Bonnie Tyler Looks Like Today
It seems like only yesterday that you couldn't turn on a top-40 radio station without hearing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (whose origin story is bizarre, to say the least). But in the blink of a bright eye, the megahit turned 40 in 2023. As for the singer herself, Bonnie Tyler is "recuperating" after undergoing emergency surgery in Portugal, in early May 2026. The latest update came from the singer's reps, on her website, on May 8. They thanked fans for the "incredible outpouring of love and well wishes," and explained, "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."
It was a shocking development in the Welsh artist's thriving career. Tyler had just recently released two new singles, "Only Love" and "One World One Home," which was featured in the documentary "HOMELESS." She was also in the midst of a European tour that was scheduled to take her right through to the end of the year. At nearly 75, the '80s icon maintains not only the youthful look of her "Eclipse" days, but her attitude as well.
Shortly before turning 70, Tyler gave an interview to Vimeo during which she was asked how she felt about the milestone. "I remember asking my mother when she was in her 70s, 'What's it like when you were in your 70s, Mom?' 'I only feel I'm in my 30s,'" the legendary singer recalled. "So I'm like my mother. I think I'm in my 40s. I think I've done so much in my life [...] I'm 69 at the moment, but in my head I'm in my 40s."
Bonnie Tyler embraces her age — with a little help
Born Gaynor Hopkins to a Welsh family of seven children (one sister was stillborn), singer Bonnie Tyler got her musical start in local bands before being discovered by a London talent scout. Her signature raspy voice was the result of disregarding her doctor's orders; in the mid-1970s, Tyler underwent surgery for vocal nodules, but re-damaged her throat muscles again by screaming. Once she recovered and returned to singing, "My voice was huskier than before, and had more of an edge," as the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" hitmaker recalled to The Guardian in 2012. That edge proved to be golden when her cover of "It's a Heartache" became a hit in America. In addition to her biggest and most iconic release, the beloved singer is best known for "Holding Out for a Hero" and "The World Is Full of Married Men." Speaking of married men, before achieving worldwide fame, Bonnie Tyler married Robert Sullivan in 1973, and the happy couple has been together ever since.
Tyler has traded her classic 80s blonde big-hair for a sleeker, straighter look lately. In addition to her think-young attitude, she has acknowledged regular Botox procedures. "I swear by it," the singer told "The Bat Segundo Show" in 2008 (via YouTube). "I have it three times a year, sometimes two times a year." Between tours, Tyler divides her time between her homes in Wales and Portugal. "I live a very normal life and don't go around with bodyguards; I'm not Mariah Carey, darling," she clarified to The Times in 2025. "I'm always happy to take a selfie in front of the salad counter." Fans are wishing Tyler a speedy recovery so she can get back to performing and, of course, posing for selfies.