Sex Pistols icon John Lydon has shed light on the loneliness he feels since his beloved wife Nora Forster passed away last year.
In April 2023, punk rocker, 68, famously known as Johnny Rotten, lost Nora at the age of 80 after a two-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
He has since been candid about his battles with grief and in a new interview with The Sunday Times Home the star spoke about life in their LA home since her passing.
John tragically confessed he ‘bounces about in the day’ but when evening falls he no longer cooks as ‘it seems pointless and selfish’, while also confessing that he tries to ‘drown himself in alcohol‘ to little avail.
He said: ‘At night it’s terrifically lonely. All the memories keep flooding back and they won’t leave you. Your body becomes immobile but your brain doesn’t switch off.’
John, who married Nora in 1979, became his wife’s full-time carer after she was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2021.
He tragically announced last year that Nora had passed away – and has since been open and honest about his battles with grief.
In September last year, Johnny confessed it was ‘almost a relief’ when she passed away and was free from her battle. Speaking on GMB, he was asked how the months after her death had been. He responded: ‘It has been tough but we endure…
‘She died laughing up to the last day. She found it very difficult breathing but she died happy and she knew I loved her and that’s all that matters.’
John continued: ‘It was almost a relief [when she died] as she was put out of her misery, for five solid years, but I loved every minute of it.
‘I didn’t mind the wheelchairs or the nappies. I just got attached to her in a whole new way and I learnt so many new things about her.
‘Just sharing comedy and humor with her was amazing because that would give her memory of what was going on. She was a very independent and strong woman.’
John explained he had to learn to be patient with Nora, as it was crucial while looking after someone with Dementia.
He added: ‘The first year she was ill, it was a learning curve, then you get used to it and after that you learn to relax a little bit with it. There is no point in arguing, don’t ask questions and let them enjoy what they enjoy.
‘She didn’t like to be patronised, it would drive her insane with fury. Don’t baby them [people with Dementia], and don’t ask too many questions.’
John again spoke about how he turned to food and alcohol shortly after Nora had died. He continued: ‘All it did was make me put on weight. I never got drunk and I thought, “This is stupid”, so I stopped.
‘But, the trouble is it’s not just the brandy, it’s the instant microwave meals that go with it and you just wreck yourself and the only way I know how to get fit is it to get back on stage.’
In 1975, Nora met John, who was 14 years her junior, at Vivienne Westwood’s famed King’s Road clothes shop Sex.
The pair were at first warned off each other by friends, but despite this, John said they had an immediate and explosive connection – one which would last a lifetime.