Bonnie Tyler will be remembered in Wales with a public farewell next month, giving fans a chance to honor the singer in the places most closely tied to her life. According to the funeral notice shared by William Pressdee Funeralcare on behalf of her family, a celebration of life will take place at Swansea Minster, St. Mary’s Church, on Monday, Aug. 17, at noon BST.
Before that service, Tyler’s coffin will return to Mumbles on Saturday, Aug. 15, at 3:30 p.m. BST. The public has been invited to gather along Newton Road from 3:15 p.m. BST to pay their respects as the procession passes through. After the Swansea service, the route will continue through Skewen, in Neath Port Talbot, where Tyler grew up, before a private family service.
Tyler, whose birth name was Gaynor Hopkins, died on July 8 at age 75 in a hospital in Portugal, where she had been receiving treatment for an ongoing illness. Her family previously said she died unexpectedly from the condition she was being treated for. In the funeral notice, she was described as a warm and generous artist whose songs reached generations and remain a fixture in dance floors and karaoke rooms around the world.
Her career made her one of pop-rock’s most distinctive voices, with a rasp that powered songs including “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “It’s a Heartache” and “Holding Out for a Hero.” “Total Eclipse of the Heart” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 and appeared on her fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night. Over more than five decades, Tyler released 18 studio albums, represented the United Kingdom at Eurovision in 2013 with “Believe in Me,” and received an MBE in 2023 for services to music.
Her family has asked for family flowers only. Those wishing to honor her memory have been encouraged to donate to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales and Cerebral Palsy Cymru, both of which she supported as patron.
Source: billboard.com
