Obituary: Linda Nolan
2025-01-15
Category: entertainment

Linda Nolan and her singing sisters lived in the spotlight after their career-defining hit I'm In The Mood For Dancing in 1979 - meaning both their highs and lows were played out in public.The close-knit group, the original sisters - Linda, Anne, Denise, Maureen and Bernie (Coleen was initially too young) - had been on the music scene since 1974 and went on to become one of the biggest British groups of the late 70s and early 80s.The Nolans scored seven UK top 20 hits, including their most famous song, which reached number three in 1980.They also built up a big international following - particularly in Japan. And they went on tour with Frank Sinatra.Singer Linda Nolan dies aged 65
All this came with a sugary disco image and catchy bubblegum songs, also including Spirit, Body and Soul, Don't Make Waves and Don't Love Me Too Hard."For all its formulaic superficial corniness, I'm In The Mood For Dancing is a definite uplifting shiny-minded pop song," music journalist Paul Morley told BBC News."[It was] efficiently custom built for parties, Top of the Pops and weddings, and with a longevity you would not have seen coming at the time."
'Importance of hard work'
After some line-up changes, Linda left the group in 1983 to pursue a solo career, mainly in musical theatre - and with a good degree of success.Her most memorable role was in the West End production of Blood Brothers. Then there were regular TV appearances, including a notorious turn on 2014's Celebrity Big Brother, where she came face-to-face with her long-time adversary, comedian Jim Davidson.But, as the years went on, showbusiness seemed to be overshadowed for Linda and her siblings by a personal and family life marked by turmoil, tragedy and the breakdown of sisterly bonds.
Linda was born in Ireland before her parents Tommy and Maureen Nolan, a husband-and-wife singing duo, moved the family to Blackpool in 1962 in search of work. There were eight Nolan offspring - six girls and two boys. All the girls sang and were performing from an early age.The Nolan girls found themselves on a treadmill of performances in nightclubs, on TV and on tours. Their fees paid the family bills.
Their father doubled as their manager and would wait in the bar before taking them home in the early hours of a school day."The importance of hard work was drummed into us at an early age," Linda told The Telegraph in 2018. "My attitude has always been that unless I'm on a stretcher, the show must go on."But, as it emerged much later, their father, an alcoholic and womaniser, was sexually abusing his eldest daughter, Anne. He was frequently violent, too. Tommy Nolan died aged 78 in 1998. Anne unloaded her secret in her 2008 autobiography."It must have been difficult for Anne all those years because everybody loved our father, absolutely loved him," Linda said in an interview with The Guardian."She must have been seething. People say it was probably cathartic for her to write the book, and I'm sure it was."
The girls were "spotted" at a Blackpool gig in 1973 and signed a recording contract, but their big break came in 1978 when they got a deal with Epic Sony-CBS.So began the hits, world tours and regular appearances on TV shows from Top of the Pops to Morecambe and Wise.The Nolans sold 25 million albums globally but very little of the profits ended up in the girls' pockets, their father having failed to appreciate he could negotiate a bigger pay deal.In 1979, Linda met Brian Hudson, a former musician, and they married in 1981 despite the reservations of her parents over the 13-year age gap and Brian's history of two divorces. Brian also became The Nolans' tour manager."But when the other girls decided that my husband Brian wasn't right as their tour manager, I was devastated and opted to launch a solo career instead," Linda told The Telegraph later.
She left with a cheque for £13,000 - but then a tax bill came in for the same amount.Linda's solo career, managed by Brian, first saw her make guest appearances on TV and on the tours of such diverse names as Gene Pitney and Cannon and Ball.She also did her fair share of pantomimes before her musical theatre career kicked off with a part alongside Paul O'Grady in Prisoner Cell Block H: The Musical.The financial blows flared up again in 1995 when she and Brian were declared bankrupt. They were saved when a newspaper then paid Linda £17,000 to tell her story.She put their money problems down to the "feast or famine" nature of showbiz.
'Stabbed in the back'
In 2000, Linda landed her most successful role, in Willy Russell's Blood Brothers, taking over as Mrs Johnstone from her younger sister Bernie.
But it was also at the start of the 2000s that Linda's world, and that of her family, began to fall apart.First Anne was told she had breast cancer, then Brian was diagnosed with cancer of the skin. A year later, Linda was told she too had breast cancer.Anne recovered, and it was while Linda was undergoing treatment that she lost her husband of 26 years, a blow that left her contemplating suicide."He was the love of my life... I lost hope of ever being happy again and started thinking, as people do when they reach a certain point in depression, it would be better for everybody if I wasn't here and I would be doing them a favour," she revealed in early 2018.She was given the all-clear from cancer in 2006 but, too depressed to work, she started claiming benefits.Then in 2009 came a financial lifeline when Maureen, Linda, Bernie and Coleen were offered the chance of a reunion tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of I'm In The Mood For Dancing.
The tour went well but, on the family front, things turned decidedly sour. Anne declared she had been "stabbed in the back" by her siblings."No-one asked me. No-one involved me at all until it was too late. Now they've made it clear I am not wanted," she told The Daily Mail.The sisters claimed the decision had been the record company's and out of their hands. It caused a further rupture in the already fractured family relationship.
Financial blows
But the next year, the sisters attempted to come together to support Bernie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and chemotherapy and was given the all-clear. But in 2012 the cancer returned, leading to her death aged 52.The sisters' truce came to an end soon afterwards.
In 2014, Linda's financial problems returned when she was investigated by Blackpool council and the Department for Work and Pensions for claiming benefits to the tune of £12,000 while working."I thought I'd stuck to the rules religiously, but some of the things they thought of as 'work' just hadn't occurred to me. I thought working meant doing a stage show, not quick television interviews," she told The Telegraph.She came up with a repayment plan and eventually was issued with a caution.That same year, Linda went into the Celebrity Big Brother house (reportedly because she needed the money), an experience that led to her telling torrid tales about her sex life and coming to verbal blows with Davidson.The two had been enemies since the 90s, when Brian had been caught stealing money from Davidson's friend and fellow comedian Frank Carson.As sister Coleen became a panellist on ITV's Loose Women, Linda also became a regular guest.And it was on that show in 2017 that a tearful Coleen told viewers her sister's cancer had returned, and this time was terminal.Linda had resumed her stage work but then, with the second diagnosis, she stopped. In March 2023, she confirmed that the cancer had spread to her brain.But as she made clear in her autobiography From My Heart - released in 2018 - she refused to spend the time she had left to live "constantly stressing about cancer".She added: "I've chosen to enjoy the little things. I've chosen to laugh. And I've chosen to look back on my life and thank God for it."