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Bonnie Tyler (born June 8, 1951 in Skewen, Wales, United Kingdom) is a Welsh pop/rock singer. Born Gaynor
Hopkins, she is widely recognizable by her highly distinctive, husky voice.
Born to a family that included three sisters and two brothers, her father worked
in a coal mine and her mother (an opera lover) shared her love for music with
her children. She grew up listening to Motown music and the female artists of Janis Joplin and Tina Turner. In 1970 at age 18,
she entered a talent contest, singing Mary Hopkin's hit "Those Were the Days,"
but only came in second place. She then was chosen to sing in a band called
Bobby Wayne and the Dixies. Two years later, she formed her own band called
Imagination and performed with them in pubs and clubs all over south Wales. It
was then that she decided to adopt the stage name of Sherene Davies (she took
these names from her niece and favorite aunt). In 1975, she was discovered by Roger
Bell, who arranged a recording contract for her with RCA Records. Before signing, she was asked to adopt
another stage name, in which she became Bonnie Tyler.
Following the Top 10 success of her 1976 song "Lost in France", Tyler released her first album
in 1977 entitled The World Starts Tonight. A further single from the
album, "More Than a Lover," made the UK Top 30. In 1977, Tyler was diagnosed
with nodules on her
vocal
cords that were so severe that surgery was mandatory. Once the surgery was
finished, she was ordered to not speak for six weeks. One day in the middle of
her healing process, she accidentally screamed, causing her voice to take a
raspy quality. At first this made her believe that her singing career was over,
but (to her surprise) her next single made her an international star. "It's a
Heartache" made #3 on the US chart and had become a hit worldwide; it topped the
charts in several countries (including France and Australia) and peaked at #2 in
Germany and at #4 in the UK. The Natural Force album was also retitled
It's a Heartache for the U.S. market. Though further success was elusive
during this era, Tyler did have a minor UK Top 40 hit with "Married Men" in
1979, the theme to the film The
World Is Full of Married Men (based on the novel by British author Jackie Collins). Tyler
released the albums Diamond Cut (1979) and Goodbye to the
Island (1981) The track Sitting on the Edge of the
Ocean was the Grand Prix winner of the 1979 Yamaha World Song Festival held
in Tokyo.
Tyler released four albums for the RCA
label between 1977-81. During that time she became dissatisfied with her
management, who were trying to lean her closer to the country music market. When
her contract with RCA expired, she signed with David Aspden Management and
sought help from songwriter Jim Steinman to give her music a rock style and
signed with CBS Records in
1982. Her next album, Faster Than the Speed of
Night, was released in Spring 1983 and spawned the single "Total
Eclipse of the Heart", written by Jim Steinman. The song was a worldwide smash and
reached no.1 in no less than 18 countries including the UK, France, Australia,
Japan, Germany, Canada, and the United States (where it remained at the top for
4 weeks). Faster Than the Speed of Night entered the UK album chart at
No.1, making Tyler a Guinness Record holder as the first ever
British female artist to have an album enter the UK chart straight at no.1.
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" also brought Tyler a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female
Pop Vocal Performance. In 1984, she performed the track at the Grammy Awards,
and received another Grammy nomination as Best Rock Female Vocalist for "Here
She Comes", a song that was part of the soundtrack for the 1984 restoration of
the film Metropolis. She also released the
singles "A Rockin' Good Way" (a duet with fellow Welshman Shakin' Stevens)
which made #5 in the UK, and "Holding Out for a Hero" from the film
soundtrack Footloose which
made #34 in the U.S., #1 in Ireland and #2 in UK (in the summer of 1985). The
albums Secret Dreams and Forbidden
Fire and Hide
Your Heart (called Notes From America in the U.S.) followed later
in the 1980s. In 1987, Tyler sang the lead
vocals for the title song of the Mike Oldfield album Islands. The single version became
moderately successful at #100 in the UK charts, #41 in Germany and Italy, and #22 in Switzerland.
In the early 1990s, Tyler switched to BMG German label Hansa. Her first album
on her new label was "Bitterblue" in late 1991. This album went
quadruple-platinum in Norway, platinum
in Austria, and gold in Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden. Tyler followed up with a new album, Angel
Heart, which repeated the success of Bitterblue. The following album
Silhouette in
Red saw her win Best International Female Vocalist in the ECHO Awards and RSH-Gold Awards.
In 1995, Tyler released the album Free Spirit, featuring the single
"Making Love out of Nothing at
All" which reached #2 on the European charts. 1998 saw the release of All in
One Voice.
In 2002, Tyler released a collection of classic rock covers called Heart
Strings (aka "Heart & Soul - 13 Rock Classics"). The album
enjoyed mild success in parts of Europe. Tyler's follow-up album, Simply Believe, was
released in 2004 and contained the #1 hit duet with Kareen Antonn, "Si demain... (Turn Around)" (a
French language remake of "Total Eclipse of the Heart") which
became a huge hit in France (where it was no.1 for ten weeks), as well as
Belgium and Poland, eventually selling 2 million copies worldwide.[1]
2005 saw Tyler release her third album in four years, Wings (aka
Celebrate). The album contained two remakes: "It's a Heartache" and
"Total Eclipse of the Heart". Two singles were released - "Celebrate" (released
as a promo single), and the track "Louise".
In September 2006, Tyler made her first appearance on U.S. television
in many years, as she sang a duet of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with actress
and now singer Lucy
Lawless on the American show Celebrity Duets.
In 2007, a new Bonnie Tyler best-of collection, From The Heart, was
released. Also in 2007, Tyler contributed with a track, "I Don't Know How to Love Him",
for the charity record Over the Rainbow
At a recent concert in Niagara Falls, Tyler stated that she will be
recording a new album with friend and long-term collaborator Jim Steinman.
News releases CD/DVD "Das Konzert 25 Millionen Golf" Various Artists inc.
Bonnie and a new compilation "Hit Collection Edition".
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