Bonnie Tyler to perform 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' during solar eclipse

A star has aligned with a rare astronomical event. 

Passengers on board a cruise ship to see next week's total solar eclipse in the US will be treated to a performance by Bonnie Tyler.

And, as large swathes of the Earth's surface are plunged into darkness, she will be belting out her hit song "A Total Eclipse of the Heart". 

“It’s going to be so exciting,” the Eighties pop icon told TIME. “It doesn’t happen very often, does it?”

All of North America will witness the eclipse of the sun for the first time in 99 years on Monday, where the Moon will pass in front of the Sun.

Dubbed the Great American Eclipse, the moment will see the Sun, the Moon and the Earth become perfectly aligned in a once-in-a-lifetime celestial spectacle seen from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

“The eclipse of the sun lasts 2 minutes and 40 minutes, I’m told,. Unlike my song. It had to be chopped about, because it was so long," she said of her 1983 hit ballad. 

Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, which is organising the week-long Total Eclipse Cruise, said Tyler was "a natural choice for this once-in-a-lifetime moment". 

The Oasis of the Seas departs Orlando, Florida. for the Caribbean on Sunday.  

More than 12 million Americans live inside the path of totality and more than half of the nation live within 400 miles of it. Millions more are expected to travel to cities along the path to witness the phenomenon. 

In the UK, people will be able to see a partial eclipse - where the moon covers only a part of the sun.