80s pop icon Bonnie Tyler reveals devastating miscarriage at 39 that changed her future
Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler was miles away from her Swansea home when the pandemic first started to spread in March 2020. She and her husband Robert reside in the Algarve, where they both reside in a stunning second home with a view of the ocean. They generally lived well, soaked up the sun, and swam in their pool.
Many people would have struggled to return to reality, but not Bonnie. She desired to resume recording and performing on-demand. In fact, she realized that retirement was not her thing due to the forced downtime. “I started singing when I was 17 and I never thought I’d still be doing it at this age”, says Bonnie, now 73, whose biggest hits include Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Holding Out For A Hero and It’s A Heartache.
“I’ve slowed down a little bit, but I know now that I will never retire. By the time the first lockdown was announced, I had enough food, despite my incredible luck because I was in Portugal at the time. I was going crazy. I had to go back on the road where I went.
By her own admission, Bonnie is a bundle of energy. She claims that she is constantly on the go and is never the type to curl up with a good book. She believes this has been the secret to keeping her healthy and fit. “I’m not one for exercise, but I never stop”, she laughs, “And, my God, I walk miles in airports! That’s the worst part about travelling for gigs, the actual travel itself”.
Bonnie will be making many more miles this year as she prepares to travel to Europe in February and then performs in Australia and New Zealand in 2025. She’ll also be rewarding her UK fans with a special one-off performance at The O2 on 5 July, where she’s supporting Michael Bolton. But first, she’s kicking off 2025 with something extra special: a brand new single.
Since her debut album, The Best Is Yet To Come, in 2021, she has a very personal feel for Yes I Can. Though you’d struggle to believe it, given all she’s accomplished, when she was growing up in Skewen, south Wales, Bonnie was a shy child who worried she’d never be able to fulfil her big dreams.
The song, “I’m hoping it’ll inspire anyone who needs that boost,” is all about finding one’s strength and believing in yourself. When I was a girl, I loved singing and knew what I wanted to do, but I had no confidence in myself and had no idea what to do. And since then, I’ve conquered the world. It’s been a journey, and I’m still on that journey now”.
She claims that her late mother ultimately gave her that confidence, and she feels a great debt to her. “I had her as my strength.” I was taught to believe in myself by my mother.
Bonnie, who was born Gaynor Hopkins in 1951, spent seven years performing in local bands before finding a talent-spotting in a Swansea club in 1975. The following year, the 25-year-old with the distinctive husky voice had her first hit with her second single, Lost In France.
Bonnie and Jim Steinman, the composer behind Meat Loaf’s 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell album, co-operated in the 1980s and achieved new heights of success. The lead single from her 1983 UK chart-topping album Faster Than The Speed Of Night was written by Stevenman for her 1980s hits Holding Out For a Hero and Total Eclipse Of The Heart. The power ballad has since been viewed on YouTube and has been streamed on Spotify more than 859 million times.
She says, “I never, ever tire of singing Total Eclipse, but I think Lost In France is the song I’m most fond of because my first hit single was it,” she says. Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and that was the start of my career. Bonnie may have become a diva due to her enormous success on both sides of the pond, but the singer is refreshingly warm and sincere. She says simply of her career, “I worked very hard, but fate has dealt me a fantastic hand”.
And she believes it’s her family who have kept her grounded over the years, saying, “I could never be a diva! I’m an ordinary person. Everyone I meet is surprised by that. They always concur. Why would it be that way, though? I’m a large Welsh family, which would soon alert me if I got too big for my boots, so perhaps that’s why.
Bonnie has three sisters, two brothers (her eldest brother passed away a few years ago), 16 nieces and nephews, and 14 great nieces and nephews to keep her busy, many of them living near her in Swansea. She met her husband Robert, a property developer and former Olympic judo athlete, when she was 17 and they have been married for 51 years. They never had children, but Bonnie says she doesn’t have any regrets.
“I did miscarry when I was 39,” I said. It just seemed like the ideal time to have a baby at that time. For the first time, I felt maternal and we stopped all precautions, and it happened straight away”, she says. “But then I lost the baby, and it didn’t happen after that.
” It’s weird, but I count myself blessed to have known that I could be pregnant, that I have been pregnant. Robert and I were so sad when it happened, but I’m not the type to dwell on things. I spent the following weekend in Paris to watch a TV show, and then I just let go.
However, Bonnie values her family very much. She claims that they enjoyed a wonderful Christmas at the local pub and watching the Gavin &, Stacey Christmas special (Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa, is one of her friends) and that she will take time off in January to spend with them before heading off on the road.
Her husband is her constant companion while traveling. Bonnie claims he’s her “number one fan” and that he accompany her at every gig. He’s marvellous. He frequently joins me on stage and sings every word, and I introduce him to my fans. We still have a lot of love, which is very fortunate. He’s not bad to look at either, I must say! “
The same can be said for Bonnie. Now in her seventies, she looks years younger – and she’s happy to reveal her secret”. Botox is all I use to fill in my laughter lines. Because my skin was looking good, I didn’t have it for about two years before I got it back a few months later.
“I don’t really do anything else. I guess I’m pretty healthy, but only because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I prefer savoury stuff, and I don’t have a huge appetite. Because I can’t handle large meals, I have small portions. But of course, I ate a lot of mince pies with brandy sauce over Christmas, so that’s not ideal”!
With such a busy 2025 and retirement ruled out, we’re sure Bonnie won’t have any trouble staying in shape. But she still has one ambition: to work with Bruce Springsteen, and she says she never stops dreaming.
“This new single is a success, and I always have dreams,” I tell myself. However, it’s not the end all. My fans’ liking of it is what matters most to me because it’s for them, the people who have followed and supported me over the years. As long as they love my music, that’s all that matters”.
Bonnie Tyler’s Yes I Can is currently available. See BonnieTyler.com for upcoming live dates
Source: Mirror
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