Mourners gathered at Swansea Minster on Monday to bid farewell to Bonnie Tyler, whose white coffin, decorated with a microphone and treble clef, was met with applause and shouts of “goodbye” from fans outside the church.
White roses and lilies adorned the casket as it was brought inside to the sound of two of the singer’s own tracks, If I Sing You A Love Song and It’s A Heartache.
The 75-year-old, who died in Portugal on July 8, was celebrated with performances from Welsh choir Only Men Aloud, who delivered renditions of her signature hit Total Eclipse Of The Heart alongside Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water.
The service brought together family, friends and admirers of the singer, born Gaynor Sullivan, to honour a career spanning decades.
The service brought together family, friends and admirers of the singer
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PA
Matthew Davis, who managed Ms Tyler from 1988, painted a picture of a woman whose fame never altered her fundamental decency.
“She was always polite and pleasant to waiters and hotel staff and would not put up with anyone else not being so too,” he told the congregation.
“To me, that is the mark of a good person.”
He described the Welsh singer as “always a star and never a diva” who “still felt she was just a girl from Skewen and she never forgot her roots.”
Bonnie Tyler’s husband Robert Sullivan leaving after attending her funeral
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PA
Mr Davis emphasised that while “music was her living, but not her life,” it was her family that truly defined her – above all her relationship with husband Robert Sullivan, whom she wed in 1973.
“Most of all in her life was Bonnie’s love for her husband Robert, her husband of 52 years and with whom she’d been together for 56 years. A true lifetime of love, respect and partnership.”
Roger Bell, the talent scout who first spotted Ms Tyler performing at a Swansea club, told those assembled she was “one of a kind” and “loved by millions worldwide.”
He noted that tributes had poured in from the Houses of Parliament, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Portuguese government, and fellow musicians including Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart and Suzi Quatro.
Bonnie Tyler died in July | PA
Yet in her home city, Mr Bell said, “she was loved by Robert and the family as Gaynor and Auntie Gaynor,” adding that her genuine warmth meant she never refused a photograph or autograph.
Canon Justin Davies read a eulogy composed by the family, recounting Ms Tyler’s upbringing in a four-bedroom council house in Skewen with parents Elsie and Glyndŵr Hopkins.
Her performing career began with a runner-up finish at a singing contest at Skewen Rugby Club in the late 1960s, where she earned just £1 for singing Mary Hopkin’s Those Were The Days.
The funeral cortège also passed through Ms Tyler’s home village of Skewen, near Swansea, where dozens of residents lined the streets to pay their respects. Many knew the singer and her family personally.
Mourners flocked the streets to pay tribute to Bonnie Tyler during her funeral
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GETTYHilary Burgum, 76, said: “Gaynor was a Skewen girl through and through. She never forgot her roots, her family, her friends. She didn’t change. I think everybody in Skewen is proud of Gaynor.”
Welsh broadcaster Roy Noble, who became friends with Ms Tyler after interviewing her, was among those attending the service.
Ms Tyler rose to global stardom in the 1980s when Total Eclipse Of The Heart reached number one in both Britain and America. Her album Faster Than The Speed Of Night remains her sole UK chart-topping record.
Her death followed emergency intestinal surgery earlier this year, after which she was placed in an induced coma.