Bonnie Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins on June 8, 1951 in Skewen, Neath, Wales. She grew up in a four-bedroom council house with three sisters and two brothers. Her siblings had varied music tastes, exposing her to artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles. Hopkins attended Rhydhir Comprehensive School in Neath, Wales. She left school, age 16, with no qualifications and began working in a grocery shop. Hopkins and her family were deeply religious Protestants. Her first public performance took place in a chapel as a child, singing the Anglican hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful.”
In April 1969, Hopkins was entered into a local talent competition by her aunt, and she came second to an accordionist. Inspired to pursue a career in singing, Hopkins found work as a backing singer for Bobby Wayne & the Dixies before forming her own band, Imagination. It was around this time that she changed her name to Sherene Davis, to avoid being confused with Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin.
In 1975, Davis was spotted singing with her band in the Townsman Club, Swansea, by talent scout Roger Bell, who invited her to London to record a demo track. After many months had passed, she received a phone call from RCA Records, offering her a recording contract. They also recommended that she change her name again. After compiling a list of surnames and first names from a newspaper, Davis found a new name in “Bonnie Tyler.”
Tyler’s debut album, The World Starts Tonight, was released in February 1977. To promote the album, Tyler embarked on her first UK tour as a guest artist with Gene Pitney. The album failed to chart in the UK, but reached no. 2 in Sweden. In the spring of 1977, Tyler underwent an operation to remove vocal cord nodules and was advised by her doctor to rest her voice for six weeks. Tyler screamed in frustration one day, resulting in a permanent raspy tone.
Tyler’s second studio album, Natural Force, was released in May 1978. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales of over half a million copies.
Her third album, Diamond Cut, was released in February 1979. It was a Top 20 record in Finland, Norway and Sweden, but only reached 145 in the US. Tyler felt that RCA was pushing her to record more country-oriented music, which frustrated her. The album yielded one major hit, “My Guns Are Loaded,” which peaked at no. 10 on the Canadian AC chart.
In the summer of 1979, Tyler had another UK Top 40 hit with “(The World Is Full of) Married Men.” She recorded it for a film adaptation of Jackie Collins’ novel of the same name. Tyler performs the song during the film's closing titles.
Tyler’s fourth album, Goodbye to the Island, was released in 1981. It only charted in Norway. RCA invited Tyler to extend her contract for another five years, but she declined, expressing disillusionment with her artistic image and noting a scarcity of performance opportunities in the aftermath of several unsuccessful singles.
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