Linda Nolan is an Irish singer, actress, and television personality. After moving with her family to Blackpool, at the age of three in 1962, she attained fame as a member of the girl group The Nolans in 1974, along with her sisters Anne, Denise, Maureen, Bernie, and Coleen.
As a member of the Nolans, she toured with Frank Sinatra in 1975, won the Tokyo Music Festival in 1981, and had seven UK top 20 hits between 1979 and 1982.
Soon after leaving the group, she supported Gene Pitney on his 1984 UK tour. She then went on to perform in theatre, including an eight-season residency as Maggie May on Blackpool’s Central Pier (1986–93), where she clocked up over 1,000 performances, followed by two seasons as Rosie O’Grady on Blackpool’s South Pier (1994–95).
She reunited with the Nolans for the 2009 I’m in the Mood Again album and tour, and in 2014, she took part in the 13th series of Celebrity Big Brother. In 2018, she was a recurring guest panelist on Loose Women.
Linda Nolan: Who was Brian Hudson?
Nolan met Brian Hudson in 1979 and they married in 1981. He was the Nolans’ tour manager until 1983 and became his wife’s manager after she left the group. They were married for 26 years until his death on 21 September 2007, from liver failure.
Linda Nolan has said she ‘was suicidal’ after the death of her husband Brian Hudson.
Linda, 62, lost Brian to skin cancer in 2007 when he was 60, just one year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time.
The former singer – whose cancer has now spread to her brain – revealed she was ‘assisted by a mental health crisis team’ as her depression hit an all-time low.
She told The Mirror: ‘I was suicidal. A psychiatrist came to see me, with these two big burly men who were nurses. Later, I realized if it hadn’t gone well, they’d have carted me off.’
Linda and Brian were married for 26 years and met two years before tying the knot in 1979 when Brian was The Nolans’ tour manager.
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