Linda Nolan’s sister says funeral was very sad but also joyous
Nolan was known for Celebrity Big Brother, a Daily Mirror column and musical theatre appearances as well as being part of pop group The Nolans.
The sister of Linda Nolan says the late Irish singer’s funeral was “very emotional, very sad, but on the other hand it was kind of joyous”.
Her family said goodbye to her on Saturday with a service at St Paul’s Church in Blackpool, with fans lining the streets outside as Nolan’s pink sparkly coffin was brought in.
With her sisters Denise, Coleen, Bernie, Maureen and Anne, Nolan was part of the pop group The Nolans, recording hits like Gotta Pull Myself Together and I’m In The Mood For Dancing in the late 70s and early 80s.
Anne told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Nolan “would have loved her funeral”, and said if “she could have arranged it herself, she would have arranged it like that”.
When asked about the memorial being open to anyone to come, she said: “That’s what Linda wanted. We were doing it for her really.
“It was really strange because on the way to the church in the funeral cars, as we arrived there was loads, hundreds of people outside the church.”
“And my sister Maureen started crying. I mean, we were all very emotional, but she started crying because of all the people that were there. She said, ‘I’m so glad because Linda would’ve been so disappointed if all these people hadn’t turned up’.”.
Anne also said: “It was very emotional, very sad, but on the other hand it was kind of joyous as well … she picked her own coffin, the pink glittery coffin was her idea.”
She added that Nolan also wanted them to wear the Spanish mantilla veils, but after ordering them the family thought that “she might’ve been having a laugh there”.
“I don’t really think she wanted us to wear mantillas, so we didn’t wear them,” she added.
“But that was the kind of humour she had.”
She also called Nolan a “a forceful” and “a big, big character in our family and in lots of people’s lives”.
The funeral was attended by her family members, wearing pink ribbons which usually means breast cancer awareness, as well as EastEnders actor Shane Richie, comedians Tommy Cannon and Paul Elliott – better known as Paul Chuckle – and singer Lisa Maffia.
Charlotte Dawson, the daughter of late comedian Les Dawson, also attended, along with Lee Brennan from boyband 911 and Coronation Street actress Jodie Prenger.
Dublin-born Nolan died last month, with “her loving siblings by her bedside” aged 65. She had gone into a coma after being admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with double pneumonia.
She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and was given the all-clear in 2011, but in 2017 was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.
In 2020 it spread and by 2023 was in her brain.
Bernie Nolan died aged 52 in 2013 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Nolan was also known for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, her Daily Mirror column, and musical theatre appearances in shows such as Blood Brothers, Pump Boys And Dinettes and Prisoner Cell Block H.
Outside her TV and musical career, she helped to raise more than £20 million for numerous charities, including Breast Cancer Now, Irish Cancer Society and Samaritans.
Her funeral was held in the church where she wed her late husband, Brian Hudson, whom she was married to for more than two decades.
