He was married to wife Melinda Trenchard for 59 years until her death in 2016 and now music legend Sir Tom Jones has revealed he feels partly to blame for his wife’s passing.
Tom famously cancelled a string of concerts three years ago when his wife, better known as Linda, died after a short battle with lung cancer. She was 75 and passed away at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. At the time, the Welsh crooner cited a serious illness in his immediate family as the reason for cancelling his shows.
Now, in an exclusive chat with the Mail on Sunday, the ‘Sex Bomb’ singer said he felt responsible for Linda’s death and questioned whether she would still be alive if he’d acted earlier.
The 78-year-old said listening to Bob Dylan’s ‘What Good Am I?’, he and Linda’s favourite song, makes him think of how he could have prevented her death. The song, originally released in 1989, is about someone who turns their back and another person who doesn’t see what is really happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLua33FGEUw
The Voice UK judge admitted reading the lyrics of the song made him feel partly to blame for Linda’s death.
“I was reading into the lyrics thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, was I partly to blame? Should I have woken up before?’,” he told the publication. “I couldn’t really have done anything because by the time we found out it was too late, so there’s not a lot you can do.”
He questioned if he should have forced his beloved wife to visit the doctor sooner.
Tom and Linda married when they were both teenagers and remained together until Linda’s death. While he famously had affairs throughout the course of their marriage, they also shared a son, Mark, together. Tom also fathered a second son with another woman, but hasn’t been involved in his life.
Meanwhile, the ‘She’s A Lady’ crooner made headlines at the weekend by sharing a special moment with a contestant on the UK version of The Voice. In emotional scenes, Tom realised that a contestant named Peter was the son of his friend, musician Lonnie Donegan. Lonnie passed away in 2002 but wrote ‘Never Gonna Fall in Love Again’ for Tom in 1967.
In emotional scenes, Tom asked Peter if he knew the song and if they could perform it together.
With cheers from the audience, the ‘Love Me Tonight’ singer belted out the classic song from his chair, while Peter sat behind the piano and played on stage.