Bonnie Tyler fans line Welsh streets as coffin returns

Bonnie Tyler fans lined the streets of Mumbles in south Wales on Saturday as the late singer's coffin returned to her home ahead of her funeral.

An AFP reporter saw thousands of people gather in the coastal village on the southwestern edge of Swansea. Some applauded, sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and threw flowers onto the hearse carrying her coffin, which was draped in the Welsh flag and accompanied by a framed photograph of Tyler.

Tyler, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in hospital in Portugal on July 8. She was 75. Her family said after her death that she had died from an unspecified illness for which she was being treated.

Her funeral is set to take place Monday in nearby Swansea, with family and friends expected to attend a service described as a celebration of her life.

Tyler was best known internationally for “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, which topped charts in the United States and Britain in the 1980s. She was born and raised northwest of Swansea and had divided her time between south Wales and Portugal in recent years.