The final studio recording by late singer Bonnie Tyler will be released this month as a Christmas single.
Tyler, the Welsh singer known for songs such as “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero”, died in July as a result of illness. She was 75 years old.
Prior to her death, the singer – real name Gaynor Hopkins – had recorded “Love, Light and Peace”, which will now be released as a Christmas track in two weeks time, on 13 November.
Announcing the news, her husband of 50 years, former Olympic judo athlete Robert Sullivan, said: “Gaynor never stopped working. She loved singing, she loved her fans, and she poured her whole heart into these songs.”
According to Sullivan, the only time that Tyler took off was during Covid. “And even then she was still on Zoom doing interviews all the time,” he said.
“Between live shows she would stop by David Mackay's studio to work on all these new songs. I know she would want people to hear them, and I am so proud of everything she left behind."
“Love, Light and Peace” was written by Chrissie Hammond and Terry Britten, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame earlier this year. Britten also produced the song alongside David Mackey, both of whom had worked with Tyler at the beginning of her career back in the Seventies.
Britten played the guitar on Tyler’s 1977 debut album The World Starts Tonight.
Tyler died in July 2026 at a hospital in Portugal, where she lived, as a result of an illness that she was undergoing treatment for at the time.
Her death followed months after the singer had received emergency intestinal surgery, after which she was put into an induced coma to assist her recovery. When she was taken out of the coma, a representative said that she remained “very unwell and in intensive care”.
Shortly afterwards, her team said: “Although her condition is improving, it is a slow process. Her doctors remain confident that she will make a good recovery, but it is going to take time.” The singer died three weeks later, with her family announcing that she “unexpectedly passed away”.
In August, fans travelled to Swansea where a celebration of life service was being held at Swansea Minster.
Known for her signature husky voice, Tyler was best known for the 1983 power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and 1984’s bombastic anthem “Holding Out for a Hero”, which was recorded for the Footloose film soundtrack.
With 18 studio albums released throughout her career, Tyler became one of Wales’s most successful musical exports, topping the UK singles chart in 1983 with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.
Born Gaynor Hopkins to Glyndwr Hopkins, a coal miner and Second World War serviceman, and Elsie Hopkins in Skewen, Wales, in 1951, Tyler was entered into a local talent competition as a teenager by her aunt, and was inspired to pursue a career in singing.
She was scouted in 1975 and signed a record deal, who recommended she change her name. She found her moniker, Bonnie Tyler, while searching through newspapers for inspiration.
Over the course of her career, the singer’s work earned her three Grammy Award nominations and three Brit Award nominations. She was awarded an MBE in 2023.
Her final studio album was The Best Is Yet to Come, which was released in 2021.
Tyler spent significant time touring the world, performing her hits up until her death. This month, the singer would have been in the middle of her Jubilee Tour across Europe, celebrating the 50 year anniversary of her song “Lost in France” cracking the UK singles chart in 1976.
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