Bonnie Tyler’s posthumous Christmas single, “Love, Light and Peace,” was released on Friday, giving listeners one more chance to hear the Welsh singer’s husky voice. On the festive track, the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” singer sings of “love, light and peace” and remembers “the ones who still live on inside our hearts.” The release comes months after her death and adds a final recorded chapter to a career that lasted five decades.
Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins, died in July at 75 after emergency intestinal surgery in Portugal earlier in the year. The song is the last she recorded. It features sleigh bells and angel imagery, along with an ad-libbed farewell: “To all, goodnight.” The track’s lyrics center on grief and loss.
Those words take on added meaning after her death. “Blessed are the ones who still live on inside our hearts,” Tyler sings. “Here’s to the best of them.”
“Love, Light and Peace” was written by Chrissie Hammond and Grammy winner Terry Britten. Britten played guitar on Tyler’s 1977 debut album, “The World Starts Tonight.” Nearly 50 years later, he returned as a writer and producer on the last song she recorded.
Robert Sullivan, Tyler’s husband of more than 50 years, previously said she would have wanted fans to hear the music she was working on. He gave his blessing for the single’s release.
Tyler grew up in a council house in Neath with a love of music. Talent scout Roger Bell discovered her in a Swansea club. After finding fame, she was dubbed “the female Rod Stewart” for her husky vocals, and her career spanned 50 years.
In August, fans traveled to Swansea and lined the streets for a celebration of life service at Swansea Minster.