Linda Nolan’s final farewell will be a send off befitting the showbiz legend, her family have promised.
With one final round of applause from her fans, the fun-loving actress wanted to leave like she lived, big, bold, and unhinged. In what will be Linda’s final public appearance, her siblings have now invited well-wishers to congregate outside the church to wave her off after her funeral on Saturday.
Everyone is invited to join them in celebrating Linda Nolan’s extraordinary life, according to a Nolan family spokesman. Every person she met, in addition to the millions who she had met, was inspired by her with her unwavering love, strength, and light.
Although her absence causes ache in our hearts, the joy, hope, and kindness she freely shared will carry on. Everyone who knew Linda, or whose lives she touched, is invited to join us to pay her respects as we remember her remarkable life.
“The family welcomes all fans and members of the general public who wish to visit designated areas outside the church.”
Just one month shy of her 66th birthday, the Daily Mirror columnist tragically passed away from double pneumonia on January 15, 20 years after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
She had previously told the Mirror how she wanted a “pink, sparkly coffin” – a wish the family have granted, with sister Coleen, 59, telling us on Saturday: “The one thing my sister loved was bling – her trainers had bling on them, her handbags, her walking stick [..] so it feels right”.
Now Coleen and the Nolan siblings, Anne, 74, Denise, 72, Maureen, 70, Tommy, 75, and Brian, 69, are determined to make the rest of Linda’s last hurrah as vibrant and as full of life as she was – and are calling on the fans to help.
This Saturday, the Dublin-born Nolan sisters’ “spiritual home” in Blackpool, where they first gained notoriety and lived their entire lives, will be laid to rest.
The day will start at 10 a.m. with a service at St. Paul’s Church, the same church where Linda and her husband Brian, who passed away in 2007, were both married and attended the same church.
The family is then anticipating that Linda’s siblings will receive one last standing ovation as they leave for a private service at a nearby crematorium. After leaving her home in Blackpool for the past 18 years, Linda will be buried with Brian’s remains.
“St. Paul’s Church holds a deeply special place in Linda’s heart”, explains her manager and longtime friend Dermot McNamara. “It is where she married the love of her life, Brian Hudson, with whom she shared 26 wonderful years of marriage. Brian was Linda’s rock, her soulmate, and the love of her life, just as she was his.
Linda found the courage to continue after Brian tragically passed away in 2007. Linda also said her final farewell to Brian at St. Paul’s, where they had exchanged their vows, in the same church where they both had sung their last songs. In order to be reunited with Brian once more, Linda will now be at peace and embraced once more in this sacred location.
It’s a poignant symmetry. But for those fans who can’t make it to Blackpool, the family have also set up a memorial page, linda-nolan. muchloved.com, where people can leave messages of support and share their stories of the so-called” Naughty Nolan”.
Supporters can also use the page to donate to Trinity Hospice, Blackpool, in Linda’s honour. Given Linda’s dedication to helping others, which she helped raise more than £20 million for mental health and breast cancer charities during her lifetime, is fitting.
In a statement given to the Mirror, the family said:” In honour of Linda’s compassionate and giving spirit, the family wishes to raise as much money as possible for Trinity Hospice, a charity that held a special place in Linda’s heart.
“During her own battle, Trinity Hospice provided exceptional care to her sister Bernie as well as to Linda in her final days.” Their team treated Linda and Bernie with unparalleled kindness, dignity and respect, for which the family will always be profoundly grateful”.
Prior to being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in her hip in 2017, Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and spent a short time without it. It spread to her liver in 2020, and by 2023, it had spread to her brain.
She passed away in 2013 at the age of 52 from secondary breast cancer in her sister Bernie. Hundreds turned out to line the Blackpool streets for Bernie’s funeral – all wanting to celebrate The Nolans, who sold 30 million records, including Spirit, Body and Soul, Attention To Me and the iconic I’m In The Mood For Dancing.
After a distinguished career on television and the West End and the support she provided for others who were diagnosed with cancer, Linda’s family is hopeful that she will experience the same outpouring of love.
The former Big Brother star was known for her upbeat and down-to-earth approach to dealing with her diagnosis, and she continued to be so in her final Mirror column.
She described her joy at overcoming what she thought was “a bout of flu” as “a whole new world out there,” just six days before her passing. Every morning when I wake up, I think “this is another day to celebrate.”
Blackpool Tower was made pink in her honor after learning of her passing, while the pier’s billboard-sized tribute remembered Maggie May, who she played for 10 years. The memories of travelers from as far away as Japan, the US, South Africa, and Australia have also been shared.
