Bonnie Tyler

Welsh-born singer Bonnie Tyler's nodules on her vocal cords prevented her from singing full time until 1976, when she underwent an operation to have them removed. The surgery left her with a raspy, husky voice that scored her a huge hit in 1978 with "It's a Heartache." The 1983 ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart" spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard charts and helped the LP Faster Than the Speed of Night sell over a million copies and debut at number one in the U.K. Tyler then recorded "Holding Out for a Hero," which to date has remained her last major success.