Bonnie Tyler--how popular was she?

Only 3 top 40 hits in the US, but many, many more hits in other parts of the world. I really like her, and she’s still great fun to see in interviews.

R1, that's probably why Total Eclipse of the Heart is still loved today, it's huge all over. I think Holding out for a Hero is also pretty big.

I can't think of this song without the literal video version

It's a Heartache, Total Eclipse, and Holding Out for a Hero are the three songs people know her best for. Total Eclipse being the most popular.

She released an album in the late '80s called Notes from America. She split from working with Jim Steinman and was working with Desmond Child, Michael Bolton, etc. and she recorded The Best which became a big hit for Tina Turner a year later, and she recorded Don't Turn Around which became a hit a few years later for Ace of Base. She also recorded Save Up Your Tears which became a minor hit for Cher a few years later.

R3, that's fucking hilarious. Even that video has 5 million views!

[quote] she recorded Don't Turn Around which became a hit a few years later for Ace of Base

I wonder how she feels about Alejandro?

Omg she was soo popular! Lots of hits and her videos were all over MTV. Multiple Grammy awards too!

Canada loves her.

Bonnie never quite followed up on the promise of "Total Eclipse..." It was a huge hit but her follow-up singles weren't nearly as big. Even though people think that "Holding Out for a Hero" was a big hit, it only reached #34 on Billboard. Similarly, Kim Carnes wasn't able to continue the momentum of "Bette Davis Eyes." Everyone thought she was the next big thing. She was not.

[quote]she recorded Don't Turn Around which became a hit a few years later for Ace of Base

Aswad released their UK #1 version before Bonnie.

Bonnie's 1988 album Hide Your Heart had 3 top 10 hits on it - Aswad's Don't Turn Around, Tina Turner's The Best and Jimmy Somerville's To Love Somebody. Save Up All Your Tears was released by Robin Beck in 1989 as a follow up to her UK #1 First Time, but it flopped making Robin an official ONE HIT WONDER. I wonder how much money Diane Warren has made from Bonnie recording her songs?

As for Bonnie, my mum used to work for a charity and they were doing a big fundraiser. They had a call from Bonnie asking if she could visit them to learn about what they did. She came along by herself, asked a load of questions and wrote them a cheque. She was very nice and unassuming.

I was obsessed with that Total Eclipse video as a 7 year old little gay boy in 1984 or so! They played it ALL THE TIME on MTV.

During my first year of college I actually purchased her Faster Than The Speed Of Night cd and wore that thing out for a year or so- It wasn't a bad album.

Of course, I played it for no one but myself as this was 1995 and Nirvana and Hootie and The Blowfish were considered COOL. And I think it was the year that Gwen Stefani's band became huge. Whatever the fuck their name was.

Pop quiz: Bonnie was one of only 4 British women to have a solo number 1 album in the UK in the 1980s. Can you name the other 3?

"It's a Heartache" reached #3 in the US Billboard Charts around 1977-78, and then Tyler disappeared. Then she came back strong in '83 with "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which I always thought was typical Jim Steiman overblown, overwrought power balladry. I don't think that she and the video's director Russell Mulcahy got along. She didn't grasp his creative vision, called him a "prevert," and stormed off the set. But after the video got heavy MTV rotation and helped catapult it to the top of the charts, Tyler rang Mulcahy up to direct her next video.

Bitch stole Meatloaf's act.

My favorite of her songs. But "Faster Than the Speed of Light" was huge album, every song strong.

Less frantic video and Bonnie is there in this one.

[quote]Pop quiz: Bonnie was one of only 4 British women to have a solo number 1 album in the UK in the 1980s. Can you name the other 3?

Kate Bush? Alison Moyet? Who else?

R17, Sade

Jim Steinmen had a knack for taking has-beens and giving them one last big hit. He did it for Tyler (Total Eclipse), Air Supply (Making Love Out Of Nothing At All), Barry Manilow (Rad Em and Weep), etc. He really did go for that big bombastic sound, didn't he?

R18, isn’t Sade technically the name of the band (as well as the lead singer) so not a solo artist?

I loved the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sound of the late Jim Steinman. He and Bonnie were perfect together.

Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire is one of my favourite '80s albums. So over the top, so camp, so fun.

Ravishing and Rebel Without a Clue are so epic.

In the 80s, Bonnie's popularity totally eclipsed us.

Her Love Songs album was great, too. Whiter Shade of Pale.. You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman (is that a new trans anthem?)...

I remember one of her mid-80s non hits was called If You Were a Woman & I Was A Man…a reviewer called her the queen of “cock rock,” whatever that means.

Holing out for a Hero official video. The perfect song for an aerobics class when you had to run around the room in a circle.

Holding!

She’s a national treasure now. Along with the likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Shirley Bassey. Etc.

Why doesn't she clear her throat before she sings? It's disgusting phlegm all I hear.

Love this

Someone turned HOFAH into a vagina ballad.

She was referred to as a female Rod Stewart on AM radio in the 70s.

That song is godawful!

She damaged her vocal cords after surgery to remove nodules, that's why her voice sounds that way, R28

I loved that chart miss, "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)". It not only SHOULD have been a hit but became one a year later when the songwriter, Desmond Child, brought it to Bon Jovi and they switched it to, "You Give Love a Bad Name." Tyler's version is much better and much more interesting. Tyler was a case of just finding success at too old an age to really connect with American youth. Which was a shame because she was good at picking material that the rest of the world seemed to respond to.

I loved it too, R34. I still have my copy of Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire on cassette that I bought when I was 16 when it first came out. I loved Rebel Without a Clue from that album. She also did a really great cover of Making Love Out of Nothing at All in the mid 90s.

Thanks for posting that R3 - that was excellent!

She’s like a two-time one-hit wonder. FWIW, I much prefer It’s a Heartache over Total Eclipse.

She really grows on you -She chooses interesting songs and she just goes for it.

Notes From America (Hide Your Heart in the rest of the world) was a great album too. It contained, as mentioned above, several songs that became hits for others, a great cover of the pre-disco BeeGee's song To Love Somebody, a fun cover of Big Brother and the Holding Company's Turtle Blues - dedicated to Janis Joplin, and The Streets of Little Italy always fills me with nostalgia.

She had some great songs that other artists made famous. As the above poster said she was just too old to connect with the youth market, so she didn't get the huge PR/Marketing push from her label.

Making Love Out Of Nothing At All

Bonnie has been married to a real estate/property developer for nearly 50 years. The guy is LOADED so she doesn't have any $$$ concerns.

Bonnie was like Laura Branigan in a way; distinctive singers but no marketable “image” and their flop singles went on to be bigger hits by lesser artists. I like Bonnie, she seems like a good egg and a good time.

Between her and Kim Carnes - their voices sounded like they had lung cancer.

NOT a fan of either of them. it was kind of a chore to listen to their songs...like physically exhausting.

r44 is EXHAUSTED.

Bonnie Tyler's real name is Gaynor Hopkins.

"Bonnie Tyler's real name is Gaynor Hopkins."

Is she related to Thelma?

R34, that’s PROOF of white male privilege! Bon Jovi turned Bonnie Tyler’s flop onto a hit!

Here's Jim Steinman and Bonnie interviewed about Total Eclipse of the Heart.

shocking she was ever popular with such a hideous voice that really hurts the ears

R44 is spot on except I wouldn't put myself through listening to them if I could help

Bonnie Tyler is awesome.

I will not accept any criticisms about this great dame.

low standards lol

OP Kim Carnes was a good copy of Bonnie Tyler.

R53, no she was not. Bonnie Tyler had a better voice and more great songs than her (none of them being a novely hit is also a plus).

Secret Dreams... also contains Loving You's a Dirty Job (but Somebody's Gotta Do It) which is a great duet with Todd Rundgren

Was she just a one-hit wonder?