Johnny Rotten is mourning the death of his wife, Nora Forster. The Sex Pistols frontman, whose real name is John Lydon, announced in a statement via his management team that his wife of 44 years died at the age of 80 after living with Alzheimer’s disease for several years. Forster was diagnosed with the disease in 2018.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster – John Lydon’s wife of nearly 5 decades – has passed away. Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years. In which time John had become her full-time carer,” a statement shared to Lyndon’s official Twitter account read. “Please respect John’s grief and allow him space. Rest in Peace Nora. Heartfelt condolences to John from Rambo and all at PiL Official.”
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Lyndon first revealed his wife’s diagnosis in 2018, when he shared in a radio interview that Forster was in the “mid-stages of Alzheimer’s.” In the years that followed, the musician became an outspoken advocate for Alzheimer’s awareness and put his career on hold, revealing in June 2020 that he had become her “full-time carer” in an interview with The Mirror. The punk rock icon, 67, added at the time that he “won’t let anyone mess up with her head. For me, the real person is still there. That person I love is still there every minute of every day and that is my life. It’s unfortunate that she forgets things, well, don’t we all?” In a 2021 update, Lyndon revealed that he hired several women to help him, noting that he “found I was being selfish by being the only caregiver. I was denying her female company.”
Amid his wife’s battle with Alzheimer’s, Lyndon wrote the song “Hawaii,” which he described as a “love letter” to his wife. Lyndon had hoped the song would become Ireland’s Eurovision 2023 entry, and while the song ultimately lost out to “We are One” by Wild Youth,” the musician said he was happy the song helped raised awareness of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. Lyndon also recently appeared on season 6 of The Masked Singer, and after he was unmasked as the Jester, he revealed that he in part decided to compete to make his wife smile.
“We’ve been married 45 years,” he said. “And no sadness, you know, because [we’re] at a certain point now in our lives where she’s suffering from Alzheimer’s, and it’s my job as her main protector and love of my life to look after her, and she will love this.”
Lyndon and Forster, the mother of punk singer Ari Up, who died of breast cancer in 2010, married in 1979. F Lydon and Forster became legal guardians of Up’s sons in 2010, per Deadline. Forster was a publishing heiress from Germany, as well as an actress and model. She also served as a music promoter who provided financial support to the Sex Pistols, the Slits, and the Clash.
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