Obituary
A statement on her website says she died “unexpectedly” last night in hospital in Portugal “as a result of the illness that she was being treated for”
In May, the south Wales-born singer was placed into an induced coma after emergency intestinal surgery in Portugal
Last month, her spokesperson said she was out of the coma but remained “very unwell and in intensive care”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9326rq1509t
I interviewed her at her fairy story castle on the Gower peninsula once. I’d been warned that her partner was, er, ‘well connected’ in a Goodfellas kind of way so I was on my best behaviour when the man walked over to me pre-interview and proceded to ask some rather strange questions about the topiary. I gritted my teeth and nodded, trying hard not to think of car boots, bits of rope, shovels and unmarked graves. When he finally wandered off I breathed a hefty sigh of relief. It was only later I learned he was the gardener. When Bonnie eventually arrived she was very polite. To break the ice (and discreetly catch a level for the sound guy) I noticed a mast in the Bristol channel about half a mile out. Feigning fascination I said “Bonnie, what’s thst sticking out of the water over there?” She screwed up her eyes and peered out. “Don’t know love,” she eventually growled. “Is it Devon?”
Shame, it has been coming though. She had a great voice. It’s not really my sort of thing but Total Eclipse of the Heart is pretty legendary
Great song and video, she looks wonderful here.
Saw her at Reading Festival 1988 – she faced down the bottles of fling p*ss like a trooper.
Only once did she say “oh you effin c’s”
Properly great recognisable voice – Reading Rock Festival may not have been the correct Festival choice though.
(Better fit at Rewind or Butlins Festival when I last saw her)
Voice exhibit A (in duet with Frankie Miller):
Voice exhibit B (in duet with Spike of The Quireboys, on a Frankie Miller toon):
We were streaming some series or other and as is often the case certain tunes pop up in enjoyable fashion that get a new lease of life in the process. Such was the case with Bonnie’s Holding Out For A Hero, I forget what show it was. My feeling was this is really a barnstorming performance, much better than I recall. Funny how the passing of time does this to certain songs, once taken out of context of that era or away from our prejudice regarding taste. You’d think it would seem dated and it does but that doesn’t matter.
I’m not normally a fan of “sad girl music” or power ballads, but this duet with Todd Rundgren is fabulously kitsch, camp, and has a sensibility my wife – and possibly some of yours – would agree with. She was a feisty broad, and I greatly respect calling the Reading 1988 audience “cunts” (other than Rigid Digit, that is). That Saturday line-up in full: Starship, Meat Loaf, Uriah Heep, Bonnie Tyler, Gene Loves Jezebel, Quireboys, Run Rig, Bonfire, and The Name. I like shit, but Dear God….
I have a sweet spot for “Lost in France” as it was a pop song I must have heard on my parents’ radio when I was 5 and it stuck in the brain.
Me too @pessoa
Had me shaking my head to see her described in the press as a legend, but reading the comments I can see a lot of affection for a not particularly Afterword act.
Lately, she did great podcast. Wasn’t she on WIYE a while back?
Um….