Key Takeaways
- Funeral arrangements for Bonnie Tyler include a celebration of life service at Swansea Minster.
- Public can pay respects as Tyler’s coffin is brought back to her home in Mumbles.
- Tyler passed away on July 8 at the age of 75 in Portugal due to an ongoing illness.
- Her legacy includes iconic hits like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “It’s a Heartache.”
Fans will have the chance to say goodbye to Bonnie Tyler in Wales next month, with funeral arrangements announced for the late singer.
A celebration of life service for Tyler will be held at Swansea Minster, St. Mary’s Church, on Monday, Aug. 17, at noon BST, according to a funeral notice shared by William Pressdee Funeralcare on behalf of her family.
Two days earlier, on Saturday, Aug. 15, Tyler’s coffin will be brought back to her home in Mumbles at 3:30 p.m. BST. Members of the public have been invited to line Newton Road from 3:15 p.m. BST to pay their respects as the procession passes through.
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Following the Swansea service, Tyler will make a final journey through Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, the village where she grew up before her unmistakable voice carried her from local club stages to international fame. The procession is expected to travel through Skewen at approximately 1:20 p.m. BST before a private family service.
Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins, died July 8 at age 75 in a hospital in Portugal, where she had been receiving treatment for an ongoing illness. In a statement previously shared on her official website, her family said she “unexpectedly passed away” as a result of the illness for which she was being treated.
The funeral notice remembered Tyler as “a warm, generous artist whose music touched generations and continues to fill dance floors and karaoke booths around the world.”
“Her legacy lives on in the timeless songs that made her a legend,” the notice added.
That legacy is closely tied to one of the most recognizable voices in pop-rock: a smoky, weathered rasp that gave “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “It’s a Heartache” and “Holding Out for a Hero” their dramatic force. Tyler’s songs became staples not only of radio and concert stages, but of karaoke nights, dance floors, film soundtracks and decades of pop culture singalongs.
Her signature hit, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1983. Written and produced by Jim Steinman, the power ballad appeared on Tyler’s fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night, and became one of the defining pop-rock recordings of the decade.
Tyler also found lasting success with “It’s a Heartache” and “Holding Out for a Hero,” the latter of which appeared on the Footloose soundtrack and became one of her most enduring anthems.
Across a career spanning more than five decades, Tyler released 18 studio albums, represented the United Kingdom at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with “Believe in Me,” and was made an MBE in 2023 for services to music.
Her family has requested family flowers only. Those wishing to honor Tyler’s memory have been asked to donate to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales and Cerebral Palsy Cymru, two charities for which she served as patron.
