Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler (born
Gaynor Hopkins on
June 8,
1951 in
Skewen,
Neath) is a
Welsh singer.
Born into a large working-class family of six children, her father worked as a
miner while her mother, an
opera fan, shared her love of music with her children. Influenced by the music of
Janis Joplin and
Tina Turner, as a teen she sang with a group called "Bobby Wayne and the Dixies," following which she formed her own band, calling it Imagination. Adopting different stage names until settling on Bonnie Tyler, for nearly a decade she and her band performed at pubs and nightclubs all over South Wales.
In
1975 Bonnie Tyler recorded her first single for
RCA Records called "
My My Honeycomb" that failed to make the charts. Her second single "
Lost in France", was a whimsical melody with lyrics that demonstrated how seemingly meaningless words on paper can be rich with meaning in song. The record showcased the potential of her powerful voice and reached the top 10 of the British pop music charts. When it was released later on the continent, it became an even bigger hit. Over the ensuing decades, the song has become one of the favorites of her fans.
Her success with "
Lost in France" led Tyler to record her first album in
1977. Titled
The World Starts Tonight, it met with only modest success, but it did well enough that she could tour throughout Europe. Prior to the album's release, Tyler underwent surgery to remove
nodules on her
vocal cords. Against doctor's orders, she spoke before she had healed, with the result that her singing voice took on a raspy quality. At first, this made Tyler believe her singing career was over. As it turned out, her next single, where she used all of her husky voice's power, made her an international star. The song "
It's a Heartache", from her second album
Natural Force, reached the top 5 in Britain, Europe, and in the United States, leading to her first American tour. The song "
Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean", again written by Scott and Wolfe, won the Grand Prix in the Tenth Yamaha -
World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo in 1979.
Following this success, her ensuing recordings were met with only moderate acceptance, but things changed when she signed with
CBS Records in
1982. Her album,
Faster Than the Speed of Night proved an international blockbuster and the single "
Total Eclipse of the Heart", written by
Jim Steinman, topped the charts worldwide, remaining at
No. 1 for several weeks. "Faster Than the Speed of Night" shot straight into the UK album charts at No.1, making Bonnie the first ever female artist to have achieved this, earning a
Guinness Record. The album is regarded by rock connoisseurs as an operatic masterpiece with its thundering
Tchaikovskyesque
cannons. The song brought Tyler a 1983 nomination for the
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and the album
Faster Than the Speed of Night earned her another Grammy nomination for
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In
1984, the year she performed "Eclipse" to great acclaim at the
Grammy Awards, she received a Grammy nomination as best Rock Female Vocalist for the song "Here She Comes," a song that was part of the soundtrack for the 1984 restoration of the film
Metropolis.
In 1984 she had another major success with the single "
Holding Out for a Hero" from the soundtrack and film
Footloose The albums
Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire and
Hide Your Heart followed. In the early 1990s, Tyler recorded the European hit album
Bitterblue. This album went quadruple-platinum in Norway, platinum in Austria and gold in Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden, amongst other countries. Its success was repeated with the
Angel Heart album.
Silhouette in Red, released in 1993, saw Tyler win Best International Female Vocalist in the
ECHO Awards. After that, her live performances continued to draw large followings, but her recordings met with limited market success until the young French singer
Kareen Antonn approached her to record a duet. "Si Demain", their
French language version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart," was released in January 2004 and went to No. 1 in
France,
Belgium, and
Poland. The single achieved million-selling status in Europe.
2006, Bonnie celebrates 30 years in music industry with her new album "Celebrate" one new single "Louise" and more a dvd
Bonnie on Tour and first ever live cd
Live Bonnie On Tour.
*
2006 Celebrate,UK, Stickmusic
*
2006 Live Bonnie On Tour (Live CD), Stickmusic
*
2006 Bonnie on Tour DVD, Stickmusic
*
2005 Wings, Stickmusic (France #133)
*
2004 Simply Believe, Yannis/ Sony Music (France #18, Switzerland #35, Belgium #25)
*
2003 Heart Strings aka. Heart And Soul - 13 Rock Classics nordeuropa, CMC/ EMI ( Norway #29, Sweden #34, Denmark #41, France #75, Germany #41, Spain #41, Austria #32)
*
2002 Total Eclipse The Bonnie Tyler Anthology Sanctuary ( France #36)
*
2001 Greatest Hits, Sanctuary (UK #18, Sweden #9, Norway #2, France #6, Spain #20, Denmark #5, South Africa #30, Finland #6, Portugal #15)
*
1998 All In One Voice, EASTWEST
*
1995 Free Spirit, EASTWEST (Switzerland #39, Austria #43, Norway #22)
*
1993 Silhouette In Red, HANSA BMG (Germany #28, Switzerland #23, Austria #25, Sweden #40, Norway #6,)
*
1992 Angel Heart, HANSA BMG (Germany # 28, Switzerland #14, Norway #4, Sweden #50, Hungary #39, Austria #9)
*
1991 Bitterblue, HANSA BMG (Germany #22, Switzerland #21, Austria #1, Norway #1,)
*
1988 Hide Your Heart aka. Notes From America USA, CBS (UK #78, Switzerland #13, Norway #2, Germany #64)
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1986 Bonnie Tyler The Video, VHS, CBS
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1986 Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire, CBS (US #106, UK #24, France #15, Austria #23, Norway #1, Switzerland #3, Germany #24)
*
1983 Faster Than The Speed Of Night, CBS (US #4, UK #1, France #12, Norway #1, Switzerland #19, NL #24, Germany #20)
*
1981 The Very Best Of BONNIE TYLER, Compilation
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1981 Goodbye To The Island, RCA (Norway #38)
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1979 Diamond Cut, RCA (US #145, Country Albums #42, Norway #14)
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1978 Natural Force aka. It's a Heartache USA, , RCA (France #40, Norway #3,US #16, Country Albums #2)
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1978 The Hits Of BONNIE TYLER compilation, RCA (France #7, Norway #1, Austria #23, NL #40, Germany #45)
*
1977 The World Starts Tonight, RCA
Singles
*
2006 Louise UK
*
2005 Celebrate (promo)
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2005 Louise (promo Poland #7, France airplay dance charts top 30)
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2004 Vergiss Es (Forget It) Matthias Reim & Bonnie Tyler (Germany #64, Ukraine Airplay Charts #10)
*
2004 Si tout s'arrête with Kareen Antonn , (France #12, Switzerland #25, Wallonie #7, Poland Airplay Charts #10)
*
2003 Si demain (Turn Around) with Kareen Antonn, (France #1, Wallonie #1, Poland Airplay Charts #1, Switzerland #7, Russia #155, Eurocharts #3, World Singles Charts #9) (written by
Jim Steinman)
*
2003 Learning to Fly *
2003 Against All Odds *
2003 Amazed (Euro Airplay Charts #157)
*
1998 He's the King (Germany #95)
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1998 Heaven *
1996 Limelight (Germany #76)
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1996 You Are the One (Germany #99)
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1996 Two Out of Three Ain't Bad (written by
Jim Steinman)
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1996 Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All (UK #45, NL #12, Belgium #2) (written by
Jim Steinman)
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1994 Back Home (Germany Only)
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1994 Say Goodbye *
1994 You Are So Beautiful *
1993 Stay *
1993 From the Bottom of My Lonely Heart (Germany Airplay Charts #86)
*
1993 Sally Comes Around (Germany #76, South Africa Airplay Charts #1)
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1992 God Gave Love to You *
1993 Call Me (Germany #86)
*
1993 Call Me Radio Mix (Germany #95)
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1992 The Desert Is in Your Heart With Sophia Arvaniti (Greece #1)
*
1992 Fools Lullaby (Germany #29, Norway #6, Austria #17)
*
1992 Where Were You (Germany Airplay Charts #43)
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1992 Against the Wind (Germany #36, Austria #13, Finland airplay #1)
*
1991 Holding Out For A Hero (UK #69)
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1991 Bitterblue (Germany #17, Norway #2, Austria #5, European Singles Charts #34)
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1990 Breakout (Germany Only)
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1989 Merry Christmas (France Only, #100) - theme from
"3615 code: Père Noël" http://imdb.com/title/tt0096741/ IMDb*
1988 It's a Heartache (France #95)
*
1988 Don't Turn Around (Brazil)
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1988 Save Up All Your Tears *
1988 Hide Your Heart *
1988 The Best (Norway #10)
*
1987 Islands With
Mike Oldfield (Switzerland #22, Germany #41)
*
1986 Sem Limites Pra Sonhar With Fábio Jr. (Brazil #1, Portugal #?, Venezuela #1)
*
1986 Lovers Again 1986
*
1986 No Way to Treat a Lady *
1986 Rebel Without a Clue *
1986 Band of Gold 1986 (UK #81)
*
1986 Loving You Is a Dirty Job With
Todd Rundgren (Switzerland #24, Germany #30, France #34, UK #73, Spain #5,
Jim Steinman)
*
1986 If You Were a Woman (And I Was A Man) (France #6, US #77, Germany #32, Switzerland #16, UK #78)
*
1984 Here She Comes (Austria #13, France #32, Germany #43, US #76, Spain #9)
*
1984 Holding Out for a Hero (UK #2, US #34, Germany #11, Austria #19, Canada #12, Spain #6) (written by
Jim Steinman, Dean Pitchford)
*
1984 A Rockin' Good Way With
Shakin Stevens (UK #5, Switzerland #10, Austria #9, Norway #4, Germany #5, NL #8)
*
1984 Getting So Excited (UK #89)
*
1983 Tears With
Frankie Miller*
1983 Straight From The Heart *
1983 Have You Ever Seen the Rain (UK #47, Germany #63, France #40, Spain #8)
*
1983 Faster Than the Speed of Night (Norway #9, UK #43) (written by
Jim Steinman)
*
1983 Take Me Back 1983 (US #46)
*
1983 Total Eclipse of the Heart (UK #1, US #1, France #1, South Africa #1, Norway #1, Australia #1, Canada #1, Brazil #1, Ireland #1, Switzerland #3, Sweden #3, Germany #16, Italy #17, NL #24, Finland #7) (written by
Jim Steinman)
*
1981 Sayonara Tokyo (Japan Only)
*
1981 Goodbye to the Islands *
1980 I'm Just a Woman *
1979 Sola a la Orilla del Mar (Argentina Only)
*
1979 Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean (Japan)
*
1979 Married Men (UK #35)
*
1979 I Believe in Your Sweet Love *
1979 What a Way to Treat My Heart (Italy Only)
*
1979 Too Good to Last *
1979 My Guns Are Loaded (US Country Singles #86, France #3)
*
1978 Louisiana Rain *
1978 If I Sing You a Love Song *
1978 Hey Love *
1978 Here Am I (Germany #18, Norway #4)
*
1977 It's a Heartache (UK #4, US #3 Country Singles #10, France #1, Sweden #1, Norway #1, South Africa #2, Australia #1, Canada #1, Brazil #1 Germany #2, Switzerland #3, Austria #3, NL #3)
*
1977 Heaven (Germany #24)
*
1977 More Than a Lover (UK #27, Germany #44, South Africa #7)
*
1976 Lost in France (UK #9, Germany #3, Austria #12, South Africa #2, NL #24, Australia #?)
*
1975 My My HoneycombReferences
*British Hit Singles 16th Edition - ISBN 085112-190-X
*British Hit Albums 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
*FR
http://www.lescharts.com/ *AT
http://austriancharts.at/ *CH
http://hitparade.ch/ *SE
http://swedishcharts.com/ *GER
http://www.charts-surfer.de/ *FIN
http://finnishcharts.com/*UK
http://www.everyhit.com/ *Charts All Over World singles sales or airplay
http://www.lanet.lv/misc/charts/ *PL
http://www.pifpaf.pl *UA
http://www.skyway.lg.ua/*
Bonnie Tyler Official Page*
Bonnie Tyler Swedish/English Site*
Bonnie Tyler Lyrics*
Bonnie Tyler Concert Pictures
