It has been a year since the life of John Lydon, known as Johnny Rotten in his time as a punk music leader and vocalist of the iconic band Sex Pistols, changed forever. Nora Forster, his wife, died at the age of 80 after more than five years suffering from the consequences of Alzheimer's disease.
The British musician, 68, was married to the German publisher since 1979, of whom he became a dedicated caretaker in her final years. A year later, the grief does not seem to let him continue, leading him to live "drowned in alcohol", as he himself has confessed.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, the musician reflects on how he feels a year after his wife's death. In a burst of sincerity, the former British punk music icon admits that the memories make it especially hard for him, especially at night.
Lydon confesses that he "relapses during the day," but at night it is much worse. He doesn't even do something as simple as cooking, something he finds "useless and selfish", and he prefers to "drown in alcohol", although unsuccessfully. "At night it's terribly lonely. All the memories keep coming back and won't leave you. Your body stays still but your brain doesn't turn off."
Despite his pain, Lydon himself confesses that it was "almost a relief" when his wife died, because he finally "ended his misery, after five long years." In an appearance on the popular magazine Good Morning Britain, the musician confessed that he was grieving for her, but at least he knew that his wife had left knowing that she loved her and for him, she was all that mattered. .
Forster had a daughter from a previous marriage, Arianna, who died in 2010 of breast cancer. At that time, the couple took the step and they became legal guardians of their three children's three children. For Lydon, that terrible event was one of the triggers for his wife's illness.
"A real sadness came over her because it is an inexplicable pain for a mother to lose her daughter," she told The Times in 2021. "From there, it was small problems like constantly losing keys and they accumulated over time. It happened so gradually, so slowly, that when it becomes definitive it is impossible to trace it," he lamented.
The musician explained that he had to learn to be patient, but he did not doubt for a second that he would do everything for her.
Forster received his diagnosis in 2018 and Lydon retired from the music world to become his full-time carer. A few years in which he experienced her deterioration and how he ended up barely recognizing her. In April 2023, he passed away.
His death was announced on Lydon's official X (former Twitter) account. "Nora has been living with Alzheimer's for several years," the ad said. "At that point, John had become her full-time carer."
"I don't think I'll ever get over it," he confessed in a previous interview, just after his wife's death. "I don't know how I'm going to continue living without her. I wouldn't want to. There's no reason."
