Bonnie Tyler Dead at 75 After Emergency Intestinal Surgery

Bonnie Tyler, the legendary Welsh singer whose raspy voice defined 1980s power ballads, has died at 75. Her manager confirmed she passed away Wednesday night in a Portuguese hospital where she had been receiving treatment since May. The three-time Grammy nominee had been placed in a medically induced coma after emergency intestinal surgery and never fully recovered.

Tyler was rushed to a hospital in Faro, Portugal, in early May after developing severe abdominal pain at her Algarve home. Doctors discovered her appendix had burst and performed emergency intestinal surgery. She was later placed in a medically induced coma to aid her recovery and suffered a cardiac arrest following the procedure. In June, her team announced she was out of the coma but remained “very unwell and in intensive care.”

Born Gaynor Hopkins in South Wales, Tyler rose to fame in the late 1970s with “It’s a Heartache” before achieving global superstardom in 1983. “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” written by Jim Steinman, topped charts in both the UK and US, selling six million copies and earning her a Grammy nomination. She followed with “Holding Out for a Hero” and earned two additional Grammy nods for her album “Faster Than the Speed of Night” and the single “Here She Comes.”

Tyler released her 18th studio album, “The Best Is Yet to Come,” in 2021 and had tour dates scheduled for this year before her health declined. Her family has asked for privacy as they grieve the loss of a woman who became one of the defining voices of her generation.