John Lydon has announced that his beloved wife Nora Forster has died at the age of 80.
In recent years, the former Sex Pistols frontman – who previously performed under the moniker Johnny Rotten – had been caring for Nora full-time, after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2018.
On Thursday evening, a statement was shared on John’s official Twitter page confirming the news that his wife had died.
“Rest in Peace Nora Forster,” the statement began. “It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster – John Lydon’s wife of nearly five decades – has passed away.
“Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years, in which time John had become her full time carer. Please respect John’s grief and allow him space.”
While caring for Nora for the past few years, John used many of his public appearances to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and his wife’s personal struggles.
Earlier this year, John entered the race to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with a song that was inspired by Nora’s condition.
“I’m doing it to highlight the sheer torture of what Alzheimer’s is,” he said in January. “It gets swept under the carpet, but in highlighting it, hopefully we get a stage nearer to a cure.”
The punk singer also said he agreed to appear on the US version of The Masked Singer specifically to try and entertain Nora.
“I hope that when my wife sees it, she’ll get it, or at least be entertained,” he told Yahoo.
“Because I did it for my lovely Nora who’s currently suffering from Alzheimer’s, a disease that she’s never going to recover from and it’s slowly going to get worse. So, this should bring some great joy to her.”
