How much money has Bonnie Tyler made from ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’?

North American citizens are gearing up ahead of the solar eclipse on Monday 8 April as the fortunate group that lives in the path of totality, over 31 million individuals in 15 states, will have the chance to see the Moon completely block out the Sun momentarily.

The uniqueness of a total eclipse though, lies in the projection of a shadow on the Earth, which occurs thanks to the Moon completely covering the Sun for a few moments, causing a brief period of nighttime darkness during the day. During this period, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the solar corona, becomes visible, showing a slight flare around Earth’s natural satellite.

The 2024 eclipse path

The path of the 2024 eclipse will start in Mexico and enter the United States via Texas before traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse.

Many friends and family will be gathering for the unique phenomenon and this has not been wasted on major brands and outlets with the likes of Burger King, Krispy Kreme and Pizza Hut offering eclipse discounts and deals.

Anyone tuning into the radio in the US and especially on the path of the eclipse is destined to hear one song dominate the airwaves.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Released in 1983 on CBS Records, the epic track from Swansea songstress Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was released initially in the UK in February of that year and has become one of the best-selling singles of all time with over six million units sold. The success of the single also propelled Tyler’s fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night to debut at no. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 4 on the Billboard 200, selling over one million copies in the United States alone.

Produced and written by Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf fame), the track is the iconic power ballad with the classic Steinman production enhancing Tyler’s raspy but emotive vocals with the male ‘turn around’ element sung by Canadian rock vocalist Rory Dodd.

Total eclipse of the bank balance

‘Total Eclipse’ is an 80s classic and according to a 2013 UK survey, the song came first in a list of most popular songs to sing in the shower and is a firm favourite in karaoke bars across the world.

The track receives publicity during solar eclipses (as will be the case in the US over the weekend) and during the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015, Tyler’s version received a 214% increase of Spotify streams throughout the day and during the solar eclipse of 21 August 2017, the the song hit the number one spot on the iTunes chart.

With the US radio network royalty payments, Tyler won’t receive any financial uplift for each airing of the track for this eclipse (only the writers and publishers receive payments) but will see incremental income from the track played on streaming services.

The song has also been key in seeing the Welsh singer maintain her successful career as a recording and touring artist, with ‘Eclipse’ forming part of a successful body of work that also includes hits such as ‘Lost in France’, ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and ‘It’s a Heartache’.

With global album sales of over 100 million albums and six million singles sales alone of ‘Total Eclipse’ it’s impossible to accurately say how much the track has contributed to her reported net worth of $30 million.

The track celebrated 40 years in 2023 and was the driver for an extensive European tour, a new ‘Best of’ collection and Tyler’s Straight from the Heart autobiography and even a dancefloor friendly remix.