Rock
Bonnie Tyler's final song to be released after her death
Bonnie Tyler's final studio recording, Love, Light and Peace, will be released posthumously on November 13, with her husband Robert Sullivan saying she would have wanted fans to hear the festive track.
Bonnie Tyler's final studio recording will be released after her death, with Love, Light and Peace set to arrive on November 13.
The Total Eclipse of the Heart hitmaker, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died aged 75 on July 8 after being treated for an illness in Portugal. Her final song, a Christmas track recorded last winter, will now be released posthumously. Her funeral took place in August in her hometown of Swansea, Wales, with thousands of fans lining the streets to pay tribute to her.
Bonnie's husband Robert Sullivan said she would have wanted her fans to hear the music she had continued working on before her death.
Robert said: "It’s been a heartbreaking year, and I miss her every single day.
"Gaynor never stopped working. She loved singing, she loved her fans, and she poured her whole heart into these songs.
"The only time she ever had off was during COVID, and even then she was still on Zoom doing interviews all the time. 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 also produced the song alongside David Mackay. Britten first worked with Bonnie on her 1977 debut album The World Starts Tonight, making the final recording a reunion with one of the people involved at the beginning of her career.
The festive song is built around a message of love, light and peace at Christmas, with sleigh bells and references to angels featuring in the lyrics. The recording also contains an emotional unscripted farewell from Bonnie at the end, when she says: "To all, goodnight."
Bonnie remained committed to music until the final months of her life. Her last concert took place at London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in March, while she had been working on new material alongside her live commitments.
The Welsh star rose to fame in the 1970s with hits including Lost in France and It's a Heartache before her career reached new heights with Jim Steinman's Total Eclipse of the Heart in 1983.
She also became known for Holding Out for a Hero, while her distinctive husky voice helped make her one of the defining pop-rock singers of the 1980s. She released 18 studio albums and continued recording and touring throughout her career.
Bonnie's death prompted tributes from fellow musicians including Sir Cliff Richard, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Suzi Quatro.
Cliff remembered the singer as a "wonderful friend", while Bryan praised her version of Straight From the Heart, writing: "Dear Bonnie Tyler passed today, she had such a great voice and I’ll always be grateful of her beautiful version of Straight From the Heart. Thanks Bonnie. RIP".
Bonnie's final release will arrive during the month in which she had originally been due to undertake a European Jubilee Tour celebrating 50 years since Lost in France became her breakthrough UK hit.
