Linda Nolan was known for her incredible sense of humour and continued to find joy even during her health battles. Her sister Denise revealed that Linda was “laughing and joking” in the final hours of her life, despite being advised by medical professionals to stay quiet to let her treatment work.
Denise said that “everyone was being quietly optimistic” but then they got “the dreaded call” telling them to “get to the hospital ASAP”. Linda sadly passed away on Wednesday, January 15, and today, February 1, fans gathered in Blackpool to bid their last goodbyes to Linda, who passed away at 65, surrounded by her loving siblings.
Celebrities including Shane Ritchie, Paul Chuckle and Jodie Prenger attended the service, which featured some of Linda’s favourite music. In a testament to her enduring sense of humour, Linda had chosen her final song at the committal as Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone by Frank Sinatra, whom The Nolans once supported on tour, reports the Mirror.
Mourners were left in stitches at the service due to the lyrics: “Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone. Oh honey, though our friendship ceases, from now on. And, listen, if you can’t say anything real nice, it’s better not to talk at all, is my advice.”
Speaking back in 2017, Linda revealed that maintaining her sense of humour is what helped her get through her shock cancer diagnosis. She was diagnosed during a trip to the hospital after a fall saw her break her hip.
Doctors examined Linda after she tripped on the stairs and found she had secondary breast cancer, as well as cancer in her pelvis and hip bone.
It came six years after she had been given the all clear following a cancer battle. Linda’s sister Bernie tragically died after a second battle with cancer in 2013, aged 52.
Speaking in 2017, Linda said humour “gets you through a lot” and revealed she put a feather boa on her zimmer frame. She said: “When Coleen saw me she cried… then she saw the feathers and laughed.”
Being asked about the family’s cancer woes, Linda was asked if she ever wonders “why us?”. She replied: “Yes, but I also look at the TV and think there are a lot of people going through a lot worse – terrorist attacks, famines. At the end of the day you have to be positive and try to be realistic.”
Linda had been told two years ago that the cancer had spread to her brain. Yet just two days before being taken to hospital last month, she had said in her weekly Mirror column how she was feeling better after a Christmas “bout of flu”.
With her trademark positivity, Linda wrote: “I feel so grateful to be feeling well again. It feels like a whole new world out there. There’s nothing like the sensation of starting to feel better after an illness. I wake up every morning and I think, ‘This is another day to celebrate’.”
The Nolans are raising money for their local Trinity House hospice, in Blackpool, which helped both Linda and her sister Bernie. If you’d like to donate or would like to leave a tribute to Linda, please visit linda-nolan.muchloved.com
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