Fans return to Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' ahead of total solar eclipse
More than 40 years after its release, Bonnie Tyler's 1983 smash “Total Eclipse of the Heart” still hits on an emotional — and celestial — level.
Monday's total solar eclipse has some people returning to the iconic song in anticipation of the rare celestial event, which will see the moon covering the sun and casting a shadow on Earth for several minutes.
The official music video on YouTube, posted in November 2009, has 1.6 billion views, with some of the most recent comments acknowledging the appropriate timing for listening to the song.
"While others are thinking about the total eclipse of the sun on Monday April 8th, I'm thinking about the total eclipse of the heart," YouTube user @matthewgenovese5327 commented.
Another user, @123mightywarrior, vowed to come back to the music video in a few days' time: "I'll see y'all on the the 8th!!" Another person commented, "Gonna play this Monday during the eclipse!"
The Grammy-nominated "Total Eclipse" is Tyler's highest charting song, spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its July 1983 release and a total of 29 weeks on the chart.
Now 72, the Welsh singer — born Gaynor Sullivan — was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to music during a 2023 ceremony at Windsor Castle.
'Total Eclipse of the Heart' streams peaked in 2017 during previous total solar eclipse
In celebration of the previous total solar eclipse, Tyler performed "Total Eclipse" with the Joe Jonas-fronted band DNCE on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2017.
Streams for the track saw an uptick ahead of that year's total eclipse, too, rising to No. 1 on iTunes and surging ahead of of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito." According to YouTube, views on the video peaked when the 2017 total eclipse was happening, with a high of almost 260,000 views in one hour.
Nielsen reported at the time that Apple sales of the track rose from 310 on Aug. 11 to 2,277 on Aug. 18, an increase of approximately 635%.
USA TODAY has reached out to YouTube for more information about the video's recent streaming numbers.
What happens during the 2024 total eclipse?
On April 8, NASA says, the total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing through Texas around 1:27 p.m. CDT and ending in Maine about 3:35 p.m. EDT. Anywhere along the eclipse path, the longest period of totality will be 4 minutes and 28 seconds, nearly double that of the 2017 solar eclipse.
A total eclipse occurs when the moon appears the same size as the sun and blocks the entire disk, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes.
Not everyone in the world will be able to see it, only people who happen to be in the path of the huge moon shadow.
The solar eclipse will be the last of its kind that will be visible for people in the U.S. until Aug. 23, 2044, according to NASA.
Contributing: Erin Jensen, Veronica Bravo and Anna Kaufman
