Nora Forster, wife of Sex Pistols legend John Lydon, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 80 years old. This was announced by Lydon’s current band, Public Image Ltd., in a statement on Twitter. Forster has suffered from a severe form of dementia since 2008 and was cared for by her husband. “It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster has passed away,” it said. Lydon was married to the native German for around 50 years and most recently dedicated the song “Hawaii” to her, with which he wanted to compete for Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, but failed in the preliminary round.
The former singer of the cult punk band Sex Pistols recently put his music career on hold in order to be able to take care of his wife around the clock. A Public Image Ltd. album announced for 2020 was also cancelled. In January 2023, Lydon applied with his band to take part in the ESC in Ireland. “It’s dedicated to everyone who’s going through difficult times on life’s journey with the person they care about most,” Lydon said of the song “Hawaii”. The song is a message of hope that love will conquer all in the end.
In a February interview with London’s Sunday Times newspaper, the punk musician said of the impact of his wife’s illness: “All the things I thought were the ultimate agony now seem absurd to me. She made me that way who I am. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. I don’t see how I could live without her. I wouldn’t want to. There’s no point.”
Nora Forster comes from a publishing family in Germany. The Munich-born millionaire heiress moved to Great Britain in the 1960s and supported punk bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash financially there. She had previously worked with artists such as Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970). From her first marriage to the German singer Frank Forster (1931-2006) she had a daughter, Ariane Forster, better known as the singer Ari Up. The frontwoman of the punk band The Slits died of breast cancer in 2010 at the age of 48. Nora Forster and John Lydon subsequently took custody of Ari Up’s three children.
