Who doesn't remember the 80s hitsIt's a Heartache, Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Holding Out for a Hero performed by Bonnie Tyler? That raspy and gritty voice has now been silenced forever in the early hours of this Thursday as the singer passed away in Portugal at the age of 75 following a serious intestinal operation in May.
By her side was the only great love of her life, Robert Sullivan, with whom she had one of the longest-lasting marriages in show business. They were also one of the most discreet and accessible couples.
They met in 1969 when Bonnie was still performing under her real name, Gaynor Hopkins, trying to make a name for herself in the nightclubs of Swansea, the town in Wales where she was born in 1951, and Robert was one of the managers of one of those venues. "I think the secret of our success is that we met before I became famous," the artist confessed to The Times last year.
From the very beginning, they hit it off. They shared the same sense of humor, values, and enjoyed simple things. Bonnie supported him greatly in his sports career as he even competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics as a judoka. After four years of courtship, they got married in July 1973 in Swansea, where they always returned to reconnect with their roots.
After retiring from sports, Robert had a successful career as a real estate developer, which led them to have 22 properties across Wales, England, the Algarve, Mallorca, and even a farm in New Zealand at one point in their lives. Thanks to their success, experts estimated their combined fortune at 40 million euros.
Bonnie always considered herself very maternal, but she couldn't have children. In an interview with The Times, the star admitted they didn't have children "because we stopped taking precautions too late, and then I had a miscarriage at 40 years old. I was unlucky, but I adore all my nieces and nephews. Our home in Mumbles is like Paddington Station because everyone wants to come visit Aunt Gaynor."
However, in another conversation with the BBC, Bonnie stated that "what happened was that when we got married, we said we would wait seven years before starting a family, but by then my career was huge. We kept postponing it until I was 39 and he was 41. Suddenly, my maternal instinct emerged, so I felt the timing was right."
And she added: "I got pregnant very quickly, but after two and a half months, I had a miscarriage. It was a horrible time. We tried again, but after two years, I wasn't getting pregnant, so we thought it wasn't meant to be. Anyway, I have a big family. I have five godchildren, 16 nieces and nephews, and 12 great-nephews, so there is no lack of children in my life."
Bonnie and Robert have been married for 53 years. They both enjoyed savoring life's simple pleasures like taking long walks on some of their estates, horseback riding, and above all, being close to the sea. Their five-bedroom property in Albufeira (Portugal) had become their special love nest.
After the passing of the singer of It's a Heartache, who throughout her career was dubbed the first lady of rock, Robert will be surrounded by his wife's nieces and nephews, whom he has treated as his own children. As a curiosity, it is worth mentioning that he is the second cousin of actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.