Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyleris a Welsh singer. She is known for her distinctive husky voice, resulting from an operation to remove vocal nodules in the mid-1970s. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album The World Starts Tonight and its singles "Lost in France" and "More Than a Lover". Her 1978 single "It's a Heartache" reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100...
NationalityWelsh
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth8 June 1951
CitySkewen, Wales
I've been singing since I was 16 because I love it - I wanted to be a singer, not a star. There's a difference between wanting to be famous and wanting to sing well.
I know I express myself best singing love songs, and Jim Steinman gave me my rock style, which I have always wanted. I can express myself best putting a lot of emotion into singing rock songs.
I am very fortunate to be doing something I completely love, so it is certainly not hard to get motivated. Watching people sing along and put their hands in the air is a very powerful thing. I'm 63, but I don't feel it. I feel like I'm in my 40s. I enjoy life.
Whenever I sing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' the way people sing along with me still excites me. It's one of the songs that audiences know all the lyrics to, and they sing along with me, and it makes me so happy. People also know my songs 'Holding out for a Hero' and 'Lost in France,' and this gives me so much joy on stage.
I advise wannabe singers to form a band, practise in your garage if you have to, but do as many charity or open mic shows as possible to get experience. I sang for seven years before getting a record deal, and I was already loving what I was doing. I just got lucky and got discovered.
It's no good singing if you just want to be a pop star; you've got to work at it and do it for the love for it, not because you think it will make you famous.
I am going to keep on singing. I have no intention of retiring. Actually, I always wonder whether people know my songs in the different countries I visit. I feel nervous over whether they will sing along with me or not.
I'm always an outsider in that group. I don't drink coffee and when they get together, it's often over a beer. There is this sense that I am different from the group.
It's a heartacheNothing but a heartacheHits you when it's too lateHits you when you're down
It's a heartache Nothing but a heartache Hits you when it's too late Hits you when you're down
When I do a T.V. show, I hear all these artists in their dressing rooms doing scales - I've never done it because I've never had voice training. What I do to prepare is get in my car and sing along to the radio for about 20 minutes.
Fabulous place, Dublin is. The trouble is, you work hard and in Dublin you play hard as well.
You think the Welsh are friendly, but the Irish are fabulous.
I am itching like hell to play America because I know that if I did the show over there, they would love it.