Bonnie Tyler

The husky songstress behind such hits as “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” talks to Simon Button about her new album, her heroes and what keeps her young.

- Simon Button

Bonnie Tyler is nothing if not honest. Asked what the secret is to looking great at 67, the singer states, “Well, the business keeps you young” then adds with refreshing candour: “That and botox of course. I have botox twice a year. I also keep pretty fit and I’ve got loads of energy.”

With a laugh that’s every bit as husky and powerful as that distinctive rock-chick singing voice of hers, and a Welsh accent that’s still very much intact, Tyler says: “People say to me, ‘For God’s sake, Gaynor, walk a bit slower because I can’t keep up with you’. And I can’t drink coffee. My God, if I have just one cup I’m climbing the walls.”

The Gaynor she’s referring to is Gaynor Hopkins, the name she grew up within the Welsh village of Skewen. Starting out as a backing singer, she briefly changed it to Sherene Davis (so as not to be confused with fellow Welsh singer Mary Hopkin) then switched to Bonnie Tyler when she landed her first record contract.

At her home in North Wales, or in Portugal, where she and husband Robert Sullivan spend their downtime, she’s Gaynor. But at work she’s Bonnie, seller of 6 million-plus copies of both “It’s a Heartache” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and a four-decades-and-counting survivor in a notoriously fickle industry.

Seventeen studio albums into her career, Tyler’s busier than ever. Calling me from Wales to chat about that 17th album Between the Earth and the Stars and with 24 live shows in her diary and more to come, she sounds a little breathless as she says: “I’m on a roll. The diary’s manic, absolutely manic, but I love it. I didn’t come into the business to be famous, I came into it because I love making music and performing.”