Bonnie Tyler fans say goodbye as her funeral takes place in Swansea
Fans from across the globe lined the streets
Last updated 20 hours ago
Fans from across the globe lined the streets of Swansea today (17th August) to say goodbye to Bonnie Tyler as her hearse arrived in the city for her funeral.
The Welsh singing legend, who was born Gaynor Hopkins, died aged 75 on 8th July.
Bonnie’s white coffin journeyed to the church alongside a floral display of her enduring stage name, ‘Bonnie’.
The memorial service then took place at Swansea Minster, which was also live-streamed on a big screen near the church.
The funeral featured poignant tributes from Bonnie’s tour manager Matthew Davies and talent scout Roger Bell, and renditions of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ and ‘Those Were the Days’ by the Welsh choir Only Men Aloud.
Afterwards, the hearse travelled to Bonnie’s birthplace of Skewen where a private ceremony took place.
Speaking to the BBC, Gemma Baker, from Swansea, says she wasn’t surprised by the huge turnout of fans paying their respects.
She said: "It's been quite emotional really, but it's lovely to see the whole of Swansea come and celebrate her. She should be celebrated. She’s a treasure.”
On Saturday (15th August), thousands of fans also lined the Newton Road and Mumbles Road in Bonnie’s beloved hometown of Mumbles during a public procession.
Known for her distinctive husky voice, Bonnie Tyler landed her first Top 10 hit ‘Lost in France’ in 1976 a year after she signed to RCA, before she scored the huge international smash ‘It’s a Heartache’ in 1977.
However, her career went truly stratospheric when she joined forces with Meat Loaf songwriter Jim Steinman and embraced rock sounds in the 1980s.
Enduring Steinman-penned anthem ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ hit Number 1 in numerous countries, and it was the fifth best-selling song of 1983 in the UK. It has also amassed more than 1.3 billion YouTube views in the past decade.