Bonnie Tyler is no longer in a coma but remains “very unwell” in intensive care in Portugal, her family has said.
In a statement on Monday, the Skewen-born singer’s family and team said her condition was improving, though it was “a slow process”.
They said her doctors remained confident she would make a good recovery, but that it was “going to take time”.
As a result, the family has cancelled or postponed all of the 74-year-old’s remaining shows this summer, affecting every date until the end of August.
They said they were still hopeful that her autumn shows would be able to go ahead.
“We apologise to all of Bonnie’s fans and to our promoter partners for the disappointment that this will cause,” the statement read, “but trust that you will understand and bear with us in these difficult circumstances.”
The family thanked supporters for the “huge outpouring of love and support from all over the world”, adding that the singer was aware of, and very grateful for, the good wishes.
They again asked for privacy, and promised further updates when there was significant news to share.
How we got here
Tyler — born Gaynor Hopkins in Neath — was admitted to Faro Hospital in the Algarve in early May for emergency surgery after her appendix was found to have burst.
The operation was initially said to have gone well, but her condition later deteriorated and she was placed into an induced coma as doctors worked to control a serious infection.
Days later, her family confirmed she remained “seriously ill but stable” — and hit out at “lurid and untrue rumours” circulating in the media, asking for speculation to stop and for the family’s privacy to be respected.
Monday’s statement is the first confirmation that she has come out of the coma.
The girl from Skewen
Born into a coal mining family in 1951, Tyler grew up in a council house in Skewen before being discovered by a talent scout at a Swansea club in the mid-1970s.
She launched her recording career with Lost in France in 1976, but it was Total Eclipse of the Heart in 1983 that made her a global superstar, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
The song has since become one of the best-selling singles of all time, passing one billion streams on Spotify last year.
Her distinctive husky voice — one of the most recognisable in pop — was the result of throat surgery in the 1970s, after she defied doctors’ orders to rest and spoke anyway, accidentally creating her trademark sound.
Among her other hits are It’s a Heartache and Holding Out for a Hero, from the 1984 film Footloose. She represented the UK at Eurovision in 2013.
Now splitting her time between Mumbles and the Algarve, Tyler was appointed MBE in 2022 for services to music and has been named a Freeman of Neath Port Talbot.
She had been due to perform more than two dozen shows across Europe this year before her health scare.
