Bonnie Tyler Is Going to Sing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ During the Solar Eclipse
As the 2017 eclipse descends upon us, people are getting ready, staking out their viewing spots and making plans. One of them is Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer best known for the 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” In the spirit of that ballad, the cover art, and the fact that our culture is a nostalgia-driven one, Tyler has announced her plans to serenade eclipse viewers with a special live rendition of her famed song.
When the solar eclipse hits on August 21, Tyler will be performing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, TIME reports. The performance also has another selling point — as if watching the eclipse while listening to THE song about the eclipse isn’t memorable enough — as Tyler will be backed by Joe Jonas’ pop band DNCE. “The eclipse of the sun lasts 2 minutes and 40 seconds, I’m told. Unlike my song,” Tyler told TIME. “It had to be chopped about because it was so long. I never thought it would be played on the radio in the beginning.”
Thanks to the solar eclipse — the first one in 38 years for the continental U.S. — Tyler’s song will receive a whole new wave of plays. As the unofficial eclipse artist, Tyler’s iconic track has developed somewhat of a pattern of making a comeback during eclipses. Apparently, it received a whopping 75 percent boost in streaming on Spotify after 2016’s solar eclipse, TIME reports, and the music video continues to draw new viewers, the tally of which is currently over 300 million.
Bonnie Tyler has some thoughts on why the track has become such a classic, namely because it’s “beautiful.””It made me cry, because I loved it so much,” Tyler told TIME of her first experience hearing it. As for why it’s in the cannon? “God knows why, because it’s not an easy song to sing. But it’s a beautiful song. It’s a massive song, an evergreen song that you hear on the radio all the time, whether it’s an eclipse or not. And you know, you can bet your life on all these talent shows — X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent — [it] pops up so often with the contestants.”
The eclipse cruise departs August 20 but, for most of us who will be watching from home, there’s always the video on YouTube.
And, as a bonus, there is Kiki & Herb’s iconic cover.
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