Bonnie Tyler: More Than “Total Eclipse of the Heart”

As the obituaries for Bonnie Tyler rolled in after her July 8th death (due to ongoing complications stemming from a perforated intestine), the most common headline was sure to bill her as the “‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ singer.” Just in case anyone could ever forget that it’s her signature single. But for those willing to look (and hear) deeper, it was always obvious that Tyler was so much more than that song. That, obviously, her vast oeuvre of studio albums, spanning from 1977 to 2021 (with a final album whose title, The Best Is Yet to Come, is retroactively bittersweet), has plenty more to offer.

Starting with 1977’s The World Starts Tonight (uncannily akin to “forever’s gonna start tonight”), Tyler instantly established herself with distinctive vocals (the ones that every obituary would also go on to describe as “husky” and/or “gravelly”). Vocals that were, incidentally, “cemented” after releasing that first record (which came out in February of ‘77 [though it was recorded in ‘76]), when she had surgery to remove some vocal cord nodules in the spring of the same year. After being advised to remain on vocal rest for six weeks as she recovered from the procedure, Tyler reached a point where she couldn’t take it anymore and screamed so loudly and forcefully out of annoyance and impatience that her voice remained forever “that way”: gravelly (and a bit similar to Stevie Nicks’).

Indeed, the distinction between the sound of her debut album (which featured her first charting hit, “Lost in France”) and her second one, Natural Force (called It’s a Heartache in the U.S.), is markedly pronounced. And that’s from the moment the album kicks off with “It’s a Heartache,” her other bestselling single after “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Granted, it wasn’t the first one she released from the album, opting to go with “Heaven” instead. A jaunty track that Tyler and others felt suffered in the charts due to the timing of Elvis’ death occurring barely a month after the song was released in 1977, thus leading RCA to focus solely on pushing and promoting various Presley records and reissues.

But with “It’s a Heartache,” released in November 1977, Tyler asserted her increasing dominance on the charts throughout the 80s. Though as Cherry Red Records’ Phil Hendricks put it of Tyler’s various career highs and lows, she showed “time and time again that she was one of those rare artists who was able to take the odd chart flop on the chin and bounce back having suffered little collateral damage.” Kind of like Cher. Another legend.

Granted, Cher is known for far more than just say, “If I Could Turn Back Time” (to use another prime example of an “ultimate 80s” hit). Whereas, once 1983 rolled around for Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” became “who she was.” Thus, it was eerily fitting that on Natural Force’s “If I Sing You a Love Song,” Tyler prophetically belts out, “Love songs last longer than lovers ever do” and “Love songs don’t leave you, but lovers often do.” That’s certainly been the case for “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which reanimates as often (if not more) than “Holding Out for a Hero,” another one of Tyler’s best-known songs, which was written for 1984’s Footloose (and then later became synonymous with Shrek 2, even if sung by Jennifer Saunders in the film, and covered by Frou Frou on the soundtrack).

After leaning even more fully into “power balladry” on 1979’s Diamond Cut, her fourth album, Goodbye to the Island (a nod to hailing from the UK, no doubt), saw her entering the 80s with a sound that blended rock and disco genres seamlessly. Even though, to some, it might have come across as if she hadn’t quite “settled in” to the sound of the decade just yet. But there was no denying she did with her seminal fifth record, Faster Than the Speed of Night, which features none other than “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Itself inspired by Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” for it was after seeing him perform it live on TV that Tyler decided to approach his songwriter and producer, Jim Steinman (on “Getting So Excited,” Tyler even pre-quotes “I’d Do Anything for Love [But I Won’t Do That]” with the interjected line, “I’d do anything for love, but I won’t do that”). Together, the two worked on recreating Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound effect not just for “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” but every other song on the record, comprised mostly of covers (including the opening track, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”).

But it was that single that found Tyler her unanimous praise and success. Even though, at the 1984 Grammys, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was nominated in the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female category, Tyler lost to Pat Benatar (with whom she has often been confused—indeed, many still think Benatar is the one who sings Tyler’s signature single) and her own 1983 hit, “Love is a Battlefield.” This despite Tyler actually performing at the ceremony.

Of course, she would arguably end up having more longevity as a result of this song than Benatar. And yet, it can’t be overstated that Tyler’s extensive discography has so much more to offer than the single that catapulted her to international fame. Take, for example, “Let the Show Begin,” during which Tyler premonitorily sings, “An old man told me/How his life just flew/And the years went quickly/But baby, before they do/Let the show begin/Let the carnival start.” For Tyler, it started and didn’t stop (at least not in Europe) for decades well beyond “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” And her “mourners” would do well to remember that.