Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Bonnie Tyler fans line the streets of a Welsh village as her coffin is brought home

ENT

Bonnie Tyler fans line the streets of a Welsh village as her coffin is brought home
ENT

ENT

Bonnie Tyler fans line the streets of a Welsh village as her coffin is brought home

2026-08-15 23:57 Last Updated At:08-16 00:10

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of fans lined the streets of a seaside Welsh village on Saturday to bid farewell to late singer Bonnie Tyler as her coffin was brought home.

The Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star, beloved worldwide for her 1983 chart-topping power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart," died last month in a hospital in Portugal. She was 75.

More Images
Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as they await the coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as they await the coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A hearse with the coffin and a picture of singer Bonnie Tyler moves through the streets past fans ahead of her funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A hearse with the coffin and a picture of singer Bonnie Tyler moves through the streets past fans ahead of her funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets of Mumbles as they await her coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets of Mumbles as they await her coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as her coffin is transported in a hearse back to her former home ahead of her funeral, in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as her coffin is transported in a hearse back to her former home ahead of her funeral, in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Tyler was hospitalized in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency intestinal surgery.

Locals and fans from around the United Kingdom and beyond took to the streets of Mumbles, near the city of Swansea, to see the hearse, which carried her coffin, draped in a Welsh flag. Dozens waited outside the singer's former home or left floral tributes there.

“She was always coming home and making sure that she came back to her fans in Wales," said Carys Edwards, 18. “Her songs really did touch a lot of people here in Wales; we loved her a lot."

Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins, a coal miner’s daughter in public housing with an outside toilet in Skewen, Wales, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) outside Swansea. She grew up with three sisters and two brothers.

The singer earned three Grammy nods and in 2013 represented Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in 19th. She was honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for her services to music by Queen Elizabeth II, thanks mainly to “Total Eclipse of the Heart."

The ballad shot to the top of the charts in Britain and the United States and has had more than 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017, 2024 — and most recently during this week's solar eclipse.

She was also known for other hits including “It's a Heartache” and “Holding Out For a Hero," from the soundtrack of the film “Footloose.”

A celebration of Tyler’s life for family and friends will take place at a church in Swansea on Monday, before the singer makes a final journey through her hometown of Skewen.

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as they await the coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as they await the coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A hearse with the coffin and a picture of singer Bonnie Tyler moves through the streets past fans ahead of her funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A hearse with the coffin and a picture of singer Bonnie Tyler moves through the streets past fans ahead of her funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets of Mumbles as they await her coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets of Mumbles as they await her coffin to be transported back to her former home ahead of the funeral in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as her coffin is transported in a hearse back to her former home ahead of her funeral, in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Fans of singer Bonnie Tyler line the streets as her coffin is transported in a hearse back to her former home ahead of her funeral, in Mumbles, Wales, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. The Total Eclipse Of The Heart musician, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8 at the age of 75. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Iran said on Saturday that Qatar was holding three of its pilots who had been missing since March. The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of attacking a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iran-backed Houthis again struck a Red Sea port in Yemen.

In southern Lebanon, nine people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, some of the deadliest since a shaky truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went into effect on June 20.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

According to the Missing Persons Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, Qatar's armed forces had captured and were holding three pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed.

Until now, Tehran had said it had no information about their fate.

Saturday's statement alleged that Qatar had violated the men's rights by not allowing the prisoners to meet or communicate with their families or with Iranian officials handling their cases, despite diplomatic efforts and repeated follow-ups.

There was no immediate response from Qatar.

The tanker owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil and gas company ADNOC was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the Emirati state-run WAM news agency said Saturday.

There were no injuries in the Friday evening attack, the agency reported. It was the third such attack on a vessel operated by ADNOC in the critical waterway in the last week. The United Arab Emirates in a statement called on Iran to stop the unprovoked strikes.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a bulk carrier was struck in the hull by an unknown projectile on Friday. It was not immediately clear if it was the same vessel.

Iran asserted control over the strait after the war started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before then.

Talks between the U.S. and Iran have stalled while Iran is in discussions with Oman about how to manage the strait that runs between them and had been considered an international waterway.

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least nine people Saturday.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said one strike targeted a home on the edge of the village of Ansar and killed seven people, including three children, and wounded two. The second, on the village of Deir al-Zahrani, killed two and wounded nine.

Israel's military said it killed a Hezbollah battalion commander and several other militants at a headquarters in southern Lebanon in response to the group’s actions against Israeli soldiers operating there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in a separate statement said three soldiers were seriously injured.

The military said the commander's family was with him, and that “it should be emphasized that the family members were not the target of the strike.” Both the military and Netanyahu's office alleged the commander used the family members as human shields.

It was one of the deadliest days since the Lebanese government and Israel announced a “framework agreement” laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.

The militant group refused direct talks and was not part of the agreement.

Yemen's military said the Houthis attacked the Red Sea port of Mokha under the control of the internationally recognized government. Port director Abdul-Malik al-Sharabi told journalists that Friday evening’s attack killed three people including two marines.

Military spokesperson Col. Majed al-Nazili said in a statement that the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles.

The Houthis' attack was the latest on government-held areas and on neighboring Saudi Arabia, part of an escalation threatening to plunge Yemen back into civil war.

Analysts say the escalation reflects how Iran is scaling up pressure on the United States and its regional allies.

Rescue workers carry a plastic bag, containing the body of a person who was killed at a house that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Zahrani village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Rescue workers carry a plastic bag, containing the body of a person who was killed at a house that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Zahrani village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man reacts on the rubble of a destroyed home that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ansar village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man reacts on the rubble of a destroyed home that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ansar village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Recommended Articles