Walsall-born rock legend Noddy Holder living with throat cancer as wife opens up about his battle
Walsall-born rock legend Noddy Holder is living with throat cancer and was given six months to live when he was first diagnosed.
The Slade singer’s wife Suzan opened up about Noddy’s secret health battle in an emotional piece for her local newspaper today.
The 77-year-old has been living with the disease for five years, despite him first being told he only had six months to live.
A new trial of chemotherapy has helped to keep him alive.
Suzan wrote: "Five years ago we were given the devastating news that he had oesophageal cancer and only had six months to live.
"I’m sorry if that comes as a bit of a shock; it came as a total bombshell to us too.
"We coped with it the only way we could, by hunkering down, sticking together and doing everything we could to survive it.
"We told only immediate close family and friends and I will never apologise to those we did not confide in, only to those who were forced to suffer pain and anguish alongside us as we attempted to navigate our way through this new and horrifying world.
"They held our hands and kept our confidence. We truly found out who our real friends are."
She said the prognosis was bleak but Noddy coped with "amazing good humour and breath-taking bravery".
"He put himself in the hands of the experts at The Christie Hospital in Manchester and agreed to a gruelling course of experimental treatment as part of a brand-new trial of intense chemotherapy," she said.
"There were no guarantees, no one knew if it would have any effect, let alone work miracles, but he responded well. As anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis will know, the experts never like to use the word ‘cure’, but here we are five years later and he’s feeling good and looking great."
Noddy performed alongside piano master Tom Seals and his band in front of a sell-out 600 crowd at the Walsall Arena in Bloxwich in July.
Fans travelled from across the country and Europe to attend the gig which was full of Noddy's old school friends, bandmates and family.
He told countless stories from his time growing up in Caldmore and the Beechdale estate and his rise to stardom.
He also chose songs which were seminal in his life which Tom Seals and his band performed with a helping hand from Noddy on the microphone.
Slade had 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart – their most famous song being Merry Xmas Everybody.
