Raspy-voiced pop singer Bonnie Tyler has emerged from a monthlong coma but continues to be “very unwell” and in intensive care at a hospital in Portugal, her family said in a statement Tuesday.
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Tyler, best known for belting out the 1980’s power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” had been placed in a medically induced coma last month after undergoing emergency surgery to treat a perforated intestine.
“Although her condition is improving it is a slow process,” Tyler’s family said in a statement. “Her doctors remain confident that she will make a good recovery but it is going to take time.”
In the meantime, Tyler’s shows scheduled through August have been canceled or postponed, but “we are still hopeful that our shows in the autumn will go ahead,” the statement said.
Tyler is 75 and lives with her husband, Robert Sullivan, in Faro, a city in southern Portugal.
The daughter of a Welsh coal miner and a three-time Grammy nominee, Tyler first hit the charts in the late 1970s with a string of singles including “It’s a Heartache” and “More than a Lover.”
Dubbed “the female Rod Stewart” because of her distinctive gritty voice, Tyler’s career took off in the 1980s when she teamed up with producer Jim Steinman, who wrote her biggest hits, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero.”
“Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which came out in 1983, made it to No. 1 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts. The bombastic ballad then became a karaoke favorite. And at the time of the 2024 solar eclipse, the song soared to No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes sales chart.
