Tom Jones Discusses Healing After Losing Wife Linda To Cancer, Her Final Wish To Him

Tom Jones married Melinda “Linda” Trenchard on March 2, 1957. The two remained a couple until her death in 2016 following a battle with cancer. But Linda’s words to Jones endure through his determination to stay strong and honor her wishes.

Today, Jones is 80 and has no desire to slow down. He’s made some life changes over the years after experiencing loss and rejuvenation and world events. But the consistent thread through it all is that he’s been keeping busy, including with a new album on the way.

How Tom Jones dealt with wife Linda’s cancer battle and death

In 2016, Linda Trenchard was diagnosed with lung cancer. “When we found out she was sick, I canceled the tour I was on and went to visit her in the hospital in Los Angeles,” Jones recalled. “I told her I wasn’t sure if I would be able to sing anymore.”

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Linda, however, had one resounding response to that plan. Jones shared, “But she told me, ‘You’ve got to. There’s no way out for me, I know where I’m going. But don’t die with me.'” Her battle with cancer has been called “short but fierce,” and Jones was by her side when she passed on April 10, 2016.

Honoring her last and greatest wish

Jones and Trenchard did not have the most faithful or always healthy marriage. Jones reportedly slept with some 250 groupies, and at least one affair resulted in the birth of a son he’s estranged from. Trenchard would at one point lash out physically at Jones. However, their relationship endured for 59 years until her death at the age of 75, enough so that to this date, Jones holds these final memories very close to his heart.

It takes some healing still. For example, “I was asked the other day, ‘Would you ever get married again?’ I couldn’t, because there’s no history with anybody else.” Even so, he’s determined to move forward with his life and live it to its fullest just as Linda instructed him. To do this, he pulls from wisdom his father shared: “When I would ask him, ‘Dad, how are you feeling?’ He’d say, ‘I’m still breathing.’ As long as you’re alive and breathing, you can take care of anything. Life is more precious to me now, and I want to try and make the most of it.”

Jones’s latest project came in the form of Surrounded by Time, his first album in five years. It hits shelves and soundwaves on May 7, 2021 and features his own work and songs composed by other musical greats like Bob Dylan. U.K. listeners could hear it as of April 23. Then, on June 7, the artist celebrates his 81st birthday, with much to reflect on and cherish in life.