‘A Welsh icon’ and ‘one of a kind’ – tributes as singer Bonnie Tyler dies aged 75

• “A one of a kind artist” – actress Catherine Zeta-Jones leads tributes to singer Bonnie Tyler, who has died at the age of 75

• Tyler, known for a series of hits in the 1970s and 80s, died “unexpectedly” last night in a Portuguese hospital where she had been receiving treatment, a statement on her website says

• The singer’s brother says her family is “totally devastated”; fans in her home town tell the BBC they mourn “a great loss for Wales”

• Fellow pop star Cliff Richard and TV presenter Carol Vorderman are among those paying tribute to the singer – read more reaction from famous faces here

• Born Gaynor Hopkins in south Wales, Bonnie Tyler chose her eventual stage name by reading a newspaper and picking first names and surnames she liked

• Total Eclipse of the Heart was her biggest hit, writes Mark Savage – but after a string of flops, it almost didn’t happen

• The song passed a billion streams on Spotify earlier this year – and she never tired of singing it

Huw Thomas
BBC Wales correspondent

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

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

Fans are shocked in Tyler’s home town: ‘It’s a great loss for Wales’

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.”