Bonnie Tyler: ‘I count my blessings’
With a new album just out, Bonnie Tyler chats to Yours about facing her fears and learning new skills
Her husky voice – belting out mega hits including It’s A Heartache and Lost in France – is the stuff of legend. But like so many musicians, the last year has been a quiet one for Bonnie Tyler. Not that she’s complaining, as she reveals that more spare time gave her an unexpected opportunity – facing a fear that had held her back for years. “The truth is I was frightened of water but now at long last, aged 69, I’ve learnt to swim,” she says.
Welsh-born Bonnie, who has been living at her holiday home in Portugal during the last year, says: “About ten years ago, I was on a yacht watching my husband Robert coming into the marina with two of my nephews on a jet ski. I thought I’d go up on deck to wave to them. But it was wet and slippery. I lost my footing and ended up in the water. Robert saw me, thank goodness, and managed to save me from drowning. It’s why I decided to use the time in lockdown to finally master swimming.”
Robert and Bonnie’s friend, Sue, have been giving her lessons and it’s all clicked into place. Now, she swims 40 widths every day. What about lengths?
“Oh no,” she says, “I wouldn’t dare go out of my depth.”
Music-wise, one of Bonnie’s last live stage appearances was in the early part of last year when she took part in a memorable concert at London’s O2 arena, on the same bill as Tom Jones and Eric Clapton, Van
Morrison and Rick Wakeman.
“We raised more than £1.6 million for the Royal Marsden cancer charity,”
‘Singing has given me the most wonderful life’
she says, with justifiable pride.
Shortly afterwards she returned to Portugal with her husband. “The last year has been the first time I’ve been off work since I was 17, but truly I
count my blessings,” she says.
Another benefit of the last few months has been a welcome change to her eating regime. “On the road, you’re eating all the wrong things at the wrong time,” she says. Now, for the first time ever, Bonnie’s had the opportunity to teach herself to cook.
She reveals she has a machine called a Thermocook, a multi-function cooking appliance that helps with weighing and blending and mixing. “It’s wonderful. It tells you what to do at every stage,” she laughs.
But cooking and swimming apart, Bonnie is ready now, she says, to go back on the road when it becomes possible – not least so she can tour her new album. Mostly made up of brand-new tracks, there are a couple of covers – Donovan’s Catch The Wind, and 10cc’s haunting I’m Not In Love – which are personal favourites.
“I was a bit worried about the 10cc song. Well, it’s iconic, isn’t it? But I was persuaded by my producer, David Mackay. He said a girl hadn’t covered it before. So I agreed and I like to think I’ve put my own stamp on it,” she says.
Of the new material, she says the album’s title track, The Best Is Yet To Come is a particularly good sentiment for the times we’re living through. And she identifies with Stronger Than A Man, written specially for her. In a male-dominated industry in which she’s not only survived but flourished for 50 years, the words are especially pertinent.
“Yes, but then I’ve never felt inferior to men. I’m a strong person and I can compete with the rockiest of male voices. In my 20s, I had to have nodules surgically removed from my
‘The last year has been the first time I’ve been off work since I was 17’
vocal chords. I was supposed not to talk for six weeks. Can you imagine! The result was my husky singing voice. People think I must have been a smoker but I never was,” she says.
To keep that voice in trim Bonnie is in touch with her singing coach three times a week. “The vocal chords are muscles; you’ve got to look after them,” she says.
Bonnie, who turns 70 in June, also reveals that in a couple of years, she and her husband Robert will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. “I know. I can’t believe it will be 50 years,” she says. And nor have they driven each other mad living in each other’s pockets during lockdowns. “Far from it. If anything, it’s brought us closer. We love being together,” says Bonnie.
Robert, a property developer, has always travelled with his wife on her tours. “The first time I saw him, I thought: ‘Phwoar!’. What’s the point of being apart?”
What you might describe as a ‘total eclipse of the heart’? She laughs.
There’s no question of Bonnie retiring, although she does plan to cut back a bit on life on the road. “I’ve been crazy busy in the last few years. It was too much, looking back. Now, I want to make time in Portugal and at our home overlooking Swansea Bay.
“I love what I do. I don’t do it for the money. I love performing in front of my fans. And I’ve missed my band and my crew. Getting up on stage is in my DNA. All the travelling is worth it for those couple of hours in front of an audience. It’s given me the most wonderful life. I count myself a very lucky woman.”