The eclipse will “turn around bright eyes” across the nation. The 1983 hit song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is getting a surge of love ahead of Monday’s solar eclipse . Over four decades after its release, the power ballad, the biggest career hit for Welsh
Singer Bonnie Tyler , is the No. 1 song added to user-generated “eclipse” playlists on Spotify in the
United States, a rep from the audio streaming provider told The Post. Spotify searches for the pop rock single have also rocketed by nearly 50% in the US this past week alone. The song is also climbing the charts on iTunes, and Saturday, ranked 62nd in downloads in the country. “Every time the eclipse comes around, it’s a bit crazy,” Tyler, 72, told The Post on Friday. “They send me all these stats all the time, and it’s always amazing.” She’s also lost count of how many times she’s belted out the tune. “Well, put it this way, I’ve been singing it in every show that I’ve done since I recorded it, and I’ve just finished nearly 40 shows in Europe,” said Tyler, who is releasing a live album called “In Berlin” on April 19. “Every time it comes along, I’m just happy to sing it because everybody waits for this song and they just love it.” The songstress, who has an estimated net worth of $30 million , said she doesn’t know how much in royalties the song has earned her over the past four decades. “To be honest, I don’t deal with that side of it. My husband and the accountants, they do all that. The funny thing is, before I called you earlier, a statement came in and I passed it on,” she said, laughing. In August 2017, when the last eclipse occurred, the song enjoyed a 500% increase in sales leading up to the rare celestial event. That day, she was invited to sing the song aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship with the band DNCE and its lead singer, Joe Jonas . “It was terribly windy on the ship, but it’s amazing when the
moon totally blocks the sun, you know? And when that moment happens, it’s incredible, isn’t it?” she said. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was written by the late lyricist Jim Steinman, a Long Island native who also penned tunes for Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Barry Manilow and the late Meat Loaf . In fact, Meat Loaf was originally supposed to record “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” but lost his voice. “Every time I saw Meat Loaf, he said, ‘Bonnie, that song should have been mine.’ I said, ‘Well, Jim gave it to me,'” she recalled. Tyler recorded it in two Big
Apple studios — the now-shuttered Greene St. Recording in SoHo, and Power Station in Hell’s Kitchen. After it was released, just ahead of Valentine’s Day in 1983, the single became Billboard’s No. 6 song that year and was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1984. In September 2023, the song’s
music video reached 1 billion views on
YouTube, a feat Tyler called “unbelievable.” She recalled filming the video for the song, which was originally intended for a musical about vampires, in a former asylum on the outskirts of
London. “It was absolutely freezing in there. There was
SNOW on the ground,” she remembered. “I was running through the snow in bare feet. I was being chased by Hells Angels and was screaming my head off over a balcony, looking crazy.” Tyler said fans always tell her about their connection to the song, which is No. 9 on Billboard’s list of 100 Greatest Karaoke Songs of All Time . “You know, I don’t actually think ‘Total Eclipse’ is a love song, but you’d be surprised how many people have their first dance to it, their first kiss,” she said. “It means a lot to so many people.”