Bonnie Tyler was ready to take a bold leap in her career after undergoing a nodule removal surgery in 1982. The procedure gave her that raspy, unique voice, and she was determined to leave Country Rock behind to embrace Rock stardom. She signed with Sony and set her sights on Jim Steinman, who was the mastermind behind Meat Loaf’s theatrical hits.
Steinman was blown away by Bonnie’s voice when they first met, and he proposed an offer to her. He asked Bonnie to collaborate with him on the vampire-themed musical based on Nosferatu. Her raw vocals gave it new life as it got reworked into the haunting masterpiece known today as “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
What is ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ about?
The song is not the typical love ballad but a vampire-themed one. Steinman’s original idea was all about exploring the pull between light and dark, with love caught somewhere in between, and the lyrics did not fail to highlight this.
Bonnie’s dramatic delivery of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” made these themes hit even better. The haunting music video was filmed in a creepy old asylum, adding another layer of eerie mystery to the track. Steinman made “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” for Meat Loaf; however, he could not record due to vocal issues.
How ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ won fans hearts
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” hit and stayed at the No. 1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, proving to be an iconic ’80s power ballad. Fans could not get enough of its emotional punch, and neither did the Grammy panel, as it received a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Years later, the track resurfaced in a vampire musical as Steinman included it in Dance of the Vampires. Multiple covers of the iconic song followed, with the likes of Jan Wayne, Westlife, Doro Pesch, Italian singer L’Aura, and many more recreating.