Sir Tom Jones “back in form” and vows to keep singing after death of his wife following “fierce” battle with cancer
Singer reveals that his childhood sweetheart told him to carry on performing without her
SIR Tom Jones has admitted to struggling in the wake of his wife Linda’s
death last month.
In his first interview since she passed away from cancer, he told how
difficult he found her final months.
He said: “It’s been a tough few months, losing Linda.
“She had emphysema, and we thought that’s all it was.
“But it turned out to be worse than that in the end.
“I’m feeling pretty good now.
“I’m back in it and getting back in form.”
Sir Tom, 75, was married to his childhood sweetheart Lady Melinda Rose
Woodward for 59 years and was by her side when she died from a “fierce”
battle with cancer in April.
The singer once claimed that he would have to quit singing “if something
happened to her” but has now revealed how Linda encouraged him to carry on
performing without her.
He said: “Singing is what I do.
“I’m a singer and I love to sing.
“I have to be strong. I was wondering if I could use that love as a strength,
and it was.
“[Linda] wanted me to go on and keep singing, she said not to stop.
“She was a strong woman and was always there.
“It was a wonderful feeling to have known someone like that all my life.
“If I could use the love that Linda and I had together, if I could use that as
a strength, her memory would give me strength, I hoped and it does.
“I’ve tried it, I’ve tried singing and she’s there.
“So it’s not a bad feeling - it’s a great feeling to have her with me and
think about her when I sing.”
Linda stood by Sir Tom throughout their marriage despite the lothario enjoying
a string of affairs and admitting to sleeping with 250 women at the height
of his fame.
Last year the former Voice coach was branded “sexist” after saying that Linda,
who suffered from depression and emphysema, had “lost her spark”.
But yesterday he paid tribute to her for sticking by him during his younger
years.
Speaking to Michael Ball on Radio 2, he added: “She kept my feet on the
ground.
“She was a wonderful, wonderful person.
“Once I was smoking cigars and sipping champagne in our snooker room when we
were in our 30s.
“She said to me, ‘Just a minute, do you really think you’re Tom Jones? The man
I married was Tom Woodward.’
“She’s still with me every day in my brain and in my heart, she’ll always be
with me.
“We shared our life together.”
Sir Tom cancelled his Asian tour when Linda fell ill but is set to return to
the stage at Hampton Court Palace on June 8.