Welsh superstar, Tom Jones has revealed he will “never love again” following the death of his beloved wife Linda in 2016. The lovebirds were married for 59 years, and the singer pays tribute to his late wife in a new interview, describing her as “a part of me”.
Appearing on The Joe Wicks Podcast this week, the singer is asked if he thought he would find love again. “No, I'll never love again,” he replied. “There was one love of my life, and that was Linda.” The Voice star married his childhood sweetheart and after the relationship survived international fame, and the trappings of the music industry.
“Y’know, I have friends and stuff. I’m glad we had our lives together, but I wish she was here now; we would be old together. I was in love with my wife as a kid…We grew up together and we loved one another ever since we saw one another.”
Speaking to the Independent, Tom explained that Linda knew “what I was trying to do, and she was one hundred per cent behind me. She said, ‘Whatever I’ve got to do to help you get to where you want to go, or where we want to go, I will do it, we will do it.’ And I said, ‘Yes, we will!’”.
Tom has always been open about his grief, openly speaking about the difficult time this tragic loss has been on him. Speaking to The Sun, the 80 year-old revealed “I honestly did not think I was going to get through it”. Tom entered into therapy sessions to not only deal with his grief of losing his wife to lung cancer, but the fact he was convinced that he was to blame for Linda’s death.
“I had to go and see a grief therapist because I kept thinking, ‘Did I do enough? Was I on the case? Did she slip away without me really realising what was happening?’”.
Tom reveals that he has been focussing on some of Linda’s final words to him, in order to cheer himself up. “Before she died, she said, ‘Don’t think of me dying, think of me laughing’. That’s how I remember her.” Tom also takes this sentiment with him before every show.
Even at 80-years-old, the It’s Not Unusual singer is still making music, with the Welsh star keen to get back on tour. “I’m waiting to get back on the road,’ he told Joe. ‘But not two shows a night anymore!”
