The news that singer Bonnie Tyler had died seemed to come out of nowhere.
She had been ill, although many of us probably had no idea. Then, suddenly, the singer with one of the most distinctive voices of the 1980s was gone at the age of 75.
Most obituaries will undoubtedly lead with Total Eclipse of the Heart, and rightly so. It was an enormous song, dramatic and emotional, with the kind of music video that could only have been made in the 1980s.
But for me, Bonnie Tyler will always be the voice behind Holding Out for a Hero.
From its pounding opening notes, the song made everything feel more urgent and important. It was originally recorded for the 1984 movie Footloose, but it soon escaped the confines of that film and took on a life of its own.
It appeared in movies, television shows and commercials. It played during training sequences, chase scenes, sporting events and moments when an ordinary character was about to do something extraordinary.
Even younger generations know it. They may have first heard it in Shrek 2, during one of the greatest rescue sequences ever committed to an animated film, or encountered it in one of the many productions that have borrowed its unmistakable energy.
That is the thing about certain songs. They stop belonging to one generation.
For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, though, Tyler’s music carries us directly back to a time of big hair, bigger emotions and songs that were never afraid to be completely over the top. There was no irony in Holding Out for a Hero. It demanded someone strong, brave and larger than life, and Tyler sang it as though the fate of the world depended on finding him before morning.
Her voice was rough, powerful and gloriously imperfect. Nobody sounded quite like her.
Bonnie Tyler may not have released a long string of songs that everyone can immediately name, but she really only needed a few. Those songs became permanent pieces of popular culture.
The singer is gone, suddenly and far too soon.
But somewhere, a movie character is facing impossible odds, the music is beginning to build, and Bonnie Tyler’s voice is about to tell us that a hero is on the way.
