{"id":2240865,"date":"2026-11-05T18:03:33","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2240865"},"modified":"2026-11-05T18:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:03:33","slug":"skewen-pays-tribute-to-bonnie-tyler-with-new-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2240865","title":{"rendered":"Skewen pays tribute to Bonnie Tyler with new mural"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/8649\/live\/b8ae4270-d874-11f1-a364-a1fce50dd192.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Bonnie Tyler’s mural has been unveiled at Skewen Memorial Park in Neath Port Talbot<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A mural of Bonnie Tyler has been unveiled in her hometown as a tribute to the global star “who never forgot her roots”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Holding Out For a Hero singer, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died in a hospital in Portugal in July, aged 75, after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Hundreds lined the streets of Skewen, in Neath Port Talbot, where she was born and raised, to pay their respects on the day of her funeral.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Artist Steve Jenkins, who painted the piece at Skewen Memorial Park, said it was “important” and the “pressure was on” to get the artwork right for the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bonnie Tyler mural painted in her hometown<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The mural features a large picture of Tyler’s face, as well as references to the local rugby club and Total Eclipse of the Heart – one of her best-known hits. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Speaking to BBC Wales, walkers passing the mural described the tribute as “fantastic”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Susan Petrosillo, 61, from Skewen, said she was “very, very proud”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s absolutely fantastic what they’ve done. It’s such a lovely park as well,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“She was such a big part of Skewen and still is.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Susan Petrosillo says it was “amazing” seeing everyone come together for Bonnie Tyler’s funeral<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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On 17 August, a celebration of life service was held at Swansea Minster ahead of a private family funeral in the village.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Petrosillo added: “On the day of her funeral, the hearse came through Skewen and the amount of people who came out for that was amazing.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"An<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Michael Davies went to school with Bonnie Tyler and knew her “quite well”<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For those who grew up alongside her, like Michael Davies, the mural is a chance to remember someone they knew long before she became a global superstar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I was in school with her, so I did know her quite well,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“She was a Skewen girl, so it’s tremendous.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"An<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Bob Marney said the rugby club emblem in the corner of the painting was important, as that’s where Tyler performed her first audition<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Bob Marney, 84, said the reference to the local rugby club – an emblem in the corner of the painting – was particularly significant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The rugby club is where she had her first audition,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’m really impressed [by the mural].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“She’s a legend. She was down to earth, never forgot her roots. She never forgot Skewen.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The artist says the colourful side of Tyler’s face represents how her music will live on, while the black-and-white side reflects the artwork’s role as a memorial<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For artist Jenkins, capturing Tyler’s likeness came with “huge responsibility”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I knew that I had to get it really accurate because of the emotions tied with Bonnie,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I knew that the family and the whole community were going to get quite emotional about seeing this, so it was important. The pressure was on.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Artist<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Artist Steve Jenkins says the mural design evolved several times before reaching its final form<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Jenkins, known as Jenks Art, said the design evolved several times before reaching its final form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The first mock-up we had had Mumbles Lighthouse in the background,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“But [with Tyler] being so proud of being from Skewen, we decided to put Skewen Park in the background.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He added the two-tone design of Tyler’s face also carried a deeper meaning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“As I was painting it, and as I was being approached by people, it became apparent that her music is going to live on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“And that’s sort of represented in the colour side of the face, and then, being a memorial piece, the black-and-white side of the face represents that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c63r5e42wdggo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/8649\/live\/b8ae4270-d874-11f1-a364-a1fce50dd192.jpg”] BBC Bonnie Tyler’s mural has been unveiled at Skewen Memorial Park in Neath Port Talbot A mural of Bonnie Tyler has been unveiled in her hometown as a tribute to the global star “who never forgot her roots”. The Holding Out For a Hero singer, whose real name was Gaynor Hopkins, died […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2240865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2240865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2240865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2240865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2240865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}