New York –
Excitement over Monday’s eclipse is shining new light on a decades old song.
Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is surging on the Spotify charts as people compile the perfect playlist for the celestial spectacle, with 32 million people across the United States living within the path of totality — meaning the moon will completely block the face of the sun from view for a few moments.
A Spotify representative told CNN that searches for Tyler’s song have soared by nearly 50 per cent in the U.S. over the past week, and the streaming service is expecting that grow on Monday leading into the eclipse.
Tyler’s song is the most popular song being added to user-generated “eclipse” playlists on Spotify in the US.
It’s even popular on iTunes, where it’s the number 10 most purchased song Monday, jumping 30 spots over the past day. Searches for the song also soared on Google Trends.
The song is a favorite of music lovers during eclipses, and Tyler, 72, has commented on the song’s popularity on social media, writing in 2011 on X: “Notifications are blowing up. *checks news* Ah. There’s an eclipse.”
No one loves the eclipse more than her, most likely. The last time an eclipse happened in the US in 2017, sales for downloads of the song increased more than 500%, according to Billboard. Not bad for a song that was a number 1 hit for four weeks in 1983.
