Image source, PA Media

In the spring of 1977, Tyler was celebrating her first taste of chart success with the wistful, lilting ballad, Lost In France, when she began to develop a sore throat.

After consulting a doctor she was told she had developed nodules on her vocal cords as the result of so much singing, and that the only option was for them to be surgically removed.

Once the operation was done, she was told, she would have to rest her voice completely for six weeks – not even speaking, let alone singing - which proved to be an impossible demand.

After one anguished scream of frustration, she returned to be told that she may have suffered permanent damage. When it finally healed and she tried to sing again, her voice had changed.

Her already husky tones had acquired a new gravelly rasp – and her producers loved it.

“When I went into the studio they all said, ‘Bloody ‘ell, where’s that voice come from?'” she later recalled. “I now sounded like a female Rod Stewart.”

Six years later, her new trademark sound found its perfect setting in her biggest hit, Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Huw Thomas
BBC Wales correspondent

Image source, Huw Thomas

Bonnie Tyler radiated showbiz glamour, but behind the powerful voice and the rockstar image there was a girl called Gaynor who kept Swansea close to her heart.

As the arts correspondent for BBC Wales I had followed her to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, where she cheerfully accepted her fate (a respectable 23 points) and made the most of entertaining her European supporters.

Approachable, and often hilarious, she was generous with her time for fans and reporters.

In Wales, too, she had a reputation for enjoyable house parties in Swansea when she wasn't retreating to Portugal to avoid the worst of the Welsh weather.

Ahead of a visit to BBC Wales to film an interview she called me from the car, insisting she'd do her own hair and makeup.

Performing was second nature, and a life on the road meant her transformation from Gaynor to Bonnie Tyler was almost instant.

All those years on stage had cultivated a rockstar image, and it came to define the Swansea girl that conquered the music world.

Fraser Morris
BBC Studios Culture

Image source, Corbis via Getty Images

One day in the summer of 1982, Canadian vocalist Rory Dodd was summoned to the Power Station recording studio in New York City to lend his vocals to a song, written and produced by his colleague and friend Jim Steinman for Bonnie Tyler.

"Jesus! Where's the kitchen sink?" Dodd cried, when he heard the final, jaw-dropping mix of the track.

The song was Total Eclipse of the Heart. It became an unprecedented international success that pushed the boundaries of melodrama in pop music.

The song is considered one of history's most iconic "power ballads". It is easy to understand why: the full-length album cut is seven minutes of unfettered bombast.

It is ultimately the pairing of Steinman's epic writing with Tyler's ferocious delivery that continues to enthral listeners.

The song exceeded the category of the power ballad before the power ballad had even established itself as a dominant musical idiom.

"I can't think of any other songs of that era that bit so much as that," Dodd told the BBC. "It was a totally different concept of a song. It's a story, it's theatre, and it worked.

• Read more: 'Inescapably epic': Why Total Eclipse of the Heart is the most dramatic pop song ever written

Aimee Thomas
BBC Wales, reporting from Mumbles

People in the coastal Swansea community of Mumbles, where Bonnie Tyler lived, are shocked today by the news of her death.

Zoe James Williams - pictured above - says Tyler's Holding Out for a Hero is one of her favourite songs.

“Her voice was just so amazing and unique," she says. “She was a great supporter of the area and was so proud to be Welsh.

“As a female rockstar, she was really inspirational.”

Sisters Nikki Thacker and Karen Brennan - pictured below, Thacker on left - are visiting Mumbles for a day at the beach and say they're "so shocked".

"She was from our era," says Thacker. "I’ve got all the records and ballads... It’s a great loss."

Brennan adds: “It’s really sad. Another icon has passed away. It’s a great loss for Wales.”

In a Facebook post, Bonnie Tyler's brother Paul Hopkins pays tribute to the singer following her death aged 75.

"Yesterday my sister lost her battle with her illness," he writes.

"We are totally devastated as a family, she was such a loving, wonderful human, she always had time for all her family, friends and her fans."

Hopkins ends with a message to his sister: "I will love you forever."

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones, a long-time friend and family connection of Bonnie Tyler, says her "heart is broken".

"Our Queen Bonnie….. you were such a part of my life," she writes on Instagram, sharing a picture of them the night before her wedding, where Tyler sang.

Zeta-Jones describes her as an "extraordinary woman with vocals to match".

"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."

Aimee Thomas
BBC Wales

Image source, Aimee Thomas

Meeting Bonnie Tyler is still one of the highlights of my career so far.

I was working as a reporter in Swansea when I was sent to interview her to mark the launch of her new book at her home in Mumbles.

I remember feeling surprisingly nervous. I'd grown up listening to her music, so the idea of sitting down with someone I’d listened to since I was a child was a little daunting.

I needn't have worried. The moment Bonnie opened the door, she made me feel completely at ease. She was warm, funny, and incredibly down to earth, welcoming us into her beautiful home as though we'd known each other for years.

There was no sense of rushing through the interview or carefully rehearsed answers. She was open, honest and happy to talk about anything we asked.

As we were wrapping things up, she even shared some career advice: always walk into a room feeling confident, even if you’re not.

It was a simple piece of advice, but hearing it from someone like Bonnie Tyler made it all the more meaningful.

Colin Paterson
Entertainment correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

As a child growing up in Wales, Bonnie Tyler sang Tina Turner songs into her mirror using a hairbrush as a microphone.

As an adult, Tyler sang the original version of one of Tina Turner’s signature songs.

In 1988, Bonnie Tyler's track The Best, with its chorus "You’re simply the best/better than all the rest", did not do the best in the UK, where it flopped, reaching a lowly 95.

The track did catch the attention of Tina Turner though, who approached the writers Mike Chapman and Holly Knight (the duo who penned Pat Benatar’s monster smash Love is a Battlefield) and asked for a few changes for a cover version she had planned - including the addition of a bridge, and crucially a key change.

The Best was the lead single from Turner’s 1989 album Foreign Affair, becoming a global hit and one of her signature songs.

Even Bonnie Tyler admitted that Turner’s version of The Best, was the best.

Image source, PA Media

If you're just joining us, tributes have been pouring in after the announcement that singer Bonnie Tyler - known for her hit Total Eclipse of the Heart - has died aged 75.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is among those honouring the Welsh pop star, calling her an "iconic figure" and "one of Britain’s greatest recording artists".

Broadcaster and media personality Carol Vorderman says she is "truly sad" to hear the news of Tyler's death.

Tyler represented something special to Wales, adds Vorderman, and will be "very very sorely missed".

Family friend Owen Money tells the BBC that Tyler "was one of those ladies who just loved life".

Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth says that Wales has lost a "true icon".

And fellow pop star Cliff Richard is mourning "another wonderful friend gone too soon", adding she had an "infectious zest for life".

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Welsh singer spoke back in 2001 about being asked by Catherine Zeta-Jones if she would sing at her wedding to Michael Douglas. The film stars were marrying in New York, where Tyler was already going to be a guest.

The singer's husband of more than 50 years, Robert Sullivan, is related to Zeta-Jones; his father and hers are cousins.

"She asked me if I like to sing it at the wedding, and she said, 'look I'm not putting you under any pressure'," Tyler told Jenni Murray on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, the following year.

"I said, 'yeah, of course I'd love to'... but I didn't realise I wasn't going on stage till about 12 o'clock. And I like to have a drink, you know, but not before I sing," the singer recalled.

"So I drank one glass of vintage champagne from 7.30 until after I came off stage at 12-ish. And it was all underneath my nose and all this incredible vintage red wine and vintage champagne everywhere.

"And I couldn't drink any of it, you know, until I came on stage, I made up for it then though!" she added.

Image source, Getty Images

English record producer and songwriter Pete Waterman is paying his respects to Tyler, comparing her to one of the greats.

The Stock Aitken Waterman producer, famous for a string of hits during the 1980s with stars including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, recalls Tyler having been "the new thing on the block" as he was arriving into the music business in the 70s.

She was "a sweet kid", he tells BBC News. "We could see her being made into a star".

Waterman describes Tyler as "one of the great British artists".

"She had an amazing voice, and was equal to Tina Turner in my opinion."

Fellow pop star Cliff Richard is mourning "another wonderful friend gone too soon".

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

"It's shocking news to wake up to you this morning and I send my love to her family at this very sad time.

"RIP Bonnie…. Cliff xx"

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Keir Starmer is among those paying tribute to the Welsh pop star following her death at 75.

"The prime minister is indeed saddened to hear about the death of Bonnie Tyler, one of Britain’s greatest recording artists," a Downing Street spokesman says.

"An iconic figure, she leaves behind a catalogue of music - from Total Eclipse of the Heart, to Holding Out for a Hero - which continues to touch lives, flood dance floors and fill karaoke booths."

He adds: "The prime minister’s thoughts are very much with her friends and family."

Christian Fraser
Presenter, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

In the pantheon of the great Welsh singers - Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey - Bonnie Tyler takes her rightful place.

She compared herself, in our interview five years ago, to Rod Stewart. The rasp was born of impatience: after a 1977 operation to remove nodules from her vocal cords, she was told to rest for six weeks.

Instead, she screamed in frustration, and that gravelly timbre was the result (read more on that strawberry-related incident here).

She never stopped: she was due on stage in Germany this week, before illness forced her summer shows to be cancelled.

Bonnie knew exactly how big she was, and embraced it, as her fans embraced her — even joining them online on occasion to sing her karaoke anthems.

I interviewed her twice. She was warm, a superstar — and at 75, utterly convinced "the best was yet to come". In fact it was the title of her 18th and last album.

Image source, Getty Images

Total Eclipse of the Heart was released in 1983, and in more than 40 years Bonnie Tyler never tired of singing it.

Speaking in 2023, she said the first time she heard the anthem, she couldn't believe its writer Jim Steinman gave her the song.

"I recorded it in New York and the way Jim works is you sing the song through nine times and you decide which take has got the best feel, which happened to be the second."

The only problem? "It was just too long!"

The radio edit, cut from eight minutes to 4:50, was "perfect" but "broke Jim's heart", Tyler added.

The hit spent two weeks at number one in the UK and four in the USA, and the music video surpassed a billion hits on YouTube.

Nicola Bryan
BBC Wales

It was Christmas Eve 2013 when me and my mates bumped into Bonnie Tyler at La Brasserie restaurant in Swansea.

Total Eclipse of the Heart has always been something of an anthem for us and so when we spotted her there was huge excitement.

Bonnie was so full of fun and seemed thrilled to be amongst fans, happily stopping by for a chat and a picture.

A while later one of my mates was speaking to a relative of Bonnie who said this picture was on Bonnie’s piano at home.

I know it sounds nuts but I recall seeing a photo of it, framed on top of her piano.

So for many years whenever Bonnie came up in conversation I’ve enjoyed saying – "well, there’s a picture of me on her piano".

What a legend.

Image source, Nicola Bryan

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Bonnie Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins and grew up on a council estate in Skewen, near Neath.

One of seven children, she lived in a four-bedroom house, with her grandparents across the road.

The family didn’t have much, but Tyler always had big dreams.

“When I was a kid, my best friend’s family had a car - my parents couldn’t afford one - and they’d take us out for a drive at the weekend,” she told the Times in 2019.

“We’d head to the Gower, singing songs at the top of our voices. On the way back, we’d always pass a lovely old house. I used to say, ‘I’d love to own that place'," she said.

“Then, in 1988, I was able to buy the one right behind it, overlooking the bay. It will always be special to me.”

Image source, Getty Images

Broadcaster and media personality Carol Vorderman, pictured, says she is "truly sad" to hear the news of Bonnie Tyler's death.

"I am a Welsh woman, and believe me in Wales Bonnie Tyler is regarded as a legend - particularly amongst women," Vorderman writes on Instagram.

"She was extraordinary. I met her a number of times. She was very real. She was always laughing, asking questions, always having a good time."

Tyler represented something special to Wales, adds Vorderman, and will be "very very sorely missed".

"My heart goes out to her family - she was very much a family woman, and all of her really good friends. A very sad day."

Image source, Getty Images

The singer's last show was at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on 19 March earlier this year, describing it on her official Facebook page at the time as a "fantastic night", external.

She had been due to perform in Cardiff a few days later, on 21 March, but this concert was rescheduled to December.

After her hospitalisation, a spokesperson announced the cancellation or postponement of dates for the singer's planned summer tour - but hoped some could still take place later in the year.

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Decades after the release of her biggest hits, Bonnie Tyler was chosen to represent the UK at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

Her song, the mournful country ballad Believe In Me.

Strangely, it wasn’t written for the contest: she’d actually recorded it a year earlier in Nashville. But when the BBC heard it, they asked if she’d hold it back and enter the competition.

She’d actually been approached about the possibility of entering Eurovision before, at the peak of her commercial success in 1983 - but declined the offer.

Speaking to the Telegraph, external, she explained what changed her mind.

"It’s a bit political but let’s be realistic, 120 million people watch the Eurovision, I’ve got a fantastic new album coming out, somebody at the BBC likes it… and I’m going to say no?"

Still, she flew over to Sweden with a bit of trepidation. “I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it,” she later told BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce. “But I had a lovely time. If you’re going for it, go for it.”

In the end, she couldn’t persuade anyone to believe in Believe In Me. It came 19th (out of 26), earning just 23 points. But Tyler put a brave face on her defeat.

"I'm sure a lot of people will be disappointed on my behalf but I have really enjoyed my Eurovision experience," she said. "I did the best that I could do with a great song. I don't feel down and I'm ready to party."