The Nolan Sisters' history of cancer as Linda Nolan dies aged 65
Linda Nolan has died 'peacefully' while surrounded by her siblings.
Singer Linda Nolan has died aged 65 "surrounded by her devoted family" following a long cancer journey.
Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 which resulted in her having a mastectomy. She was given the all-clear in 2011. In 2017, she was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer which was contained within her hip and pelvis. In 2020, the cancer spread to her liver and three years later to her brain — with scans showing the tumours had shrunk in December 2023.
She had started the cancer life-extending drug, called Enhertu, in August 2024, which she called “amazing”, and pushed for other people to have this “opportunity” to take the medication.
Linda's manager Dermot McNamara announced her death saying: "Over the weekend, Linda was taken by ambulance to Blackpool Victoria Hospital and admitted with double pneumonia. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, she went into a coma and into end-of-life care, surrounded by her devoted family.
"At around 10.20am on Wednesday, she passed peacefully, with her loving siblings by her bedside, ensuring she was embraced with love and comfort during her final moments, aged 65. Linda’s legacy extends beyond her incredible achievements in music and entertainment. She was a beacon of hope and resilience, sharing her journey to raise awareness and inspire others."
Read more: What is secondary cancer?
Linda rose to fame with her singing siblings in The Nolan Sisters — who later changed their name to The Nolans — and cancer has struck their family several times. Linda, Anne and Coleen have all had cancer, and their sister Bernie died in 2013.
Here's how the illness has affected their family.
Linda Nolan
Last August Linda shared that her consultant has told her that her most recent scans show the two largest tumours at the front and left side of her brain have grown. "I sobbed when my consultant first told me," she told the Mirror. "I know so many people are suffering and going through things, but I thought, just for once, could cancer just leave me alone? My heart sank.”
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The star told Good Morning Britain that she now struggles to walk in the mornings. "I'm so jittery in the morning, I get so jittery I can hardly walk," she said. "So I have to sit in the bed for 10 minutes and get my legs working, and then go downstairs and do whatever."
During her GMB interview she also opened up about her sisters supporting her, saying: "One of my sisters gets the short straw and comes with me on results day, then we all meet in the cafe for lunch if the news is good, and if it's bad we just go home and have a cup of tea."
Over the last few years Linda has been candid about her journey, and in 2021 she told OK! magazine: "I’m scared of dying. There’s so much to live for." But she has also said that in some way her diagnosis has given her a "sense of freedom".
“It gives me a new perspective on life for me because I don't know how long I've got," she said on Good Morning Britain in 2022. "Whatever time I've got left, I want to make memories and have a great time."
She died aged 65 in January 2025.
Bernie Nolan
Bernie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, but got her all clear after chemotherapy and a mastectomy. However, it returned in 2012, and the star shared that doctors had told her it was incurable.
The singer insisted she would keep fighting, telling the Mirror: "I refuse to sit around like I’ve got a death sentence hanging over my head. I’m going to fight this for ever. It can get stuffed.”
She said while it was hard hearing the word "incurable", she had also been told it was treatable. "It could have been worse," she said. "It could have just been incurable."
Less than a year later, Bernie died at the age of 52. "The entire family are devastated to have lost beloved Bernie, a wonderful wife, adoring mother and loving sister, she is irreplaceable," a spokesperson for the family – which includes sisters Maureen and Denise – said in a statement at the time.
Bernie had a daughter, Erin, who was 14 when her mum died. Linda later shared that her sister had left her a special diary. "Erin was Bernie’s whole world, and she wanted to continue to be able to influence her life," the Mirror quoted her as saying.
“So she left a diary for her. It is personal between mother and daughter – full of the memories they share.”
Anne Nolan
Anne was the first of the sisters to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000. She was told she was clear of it, but in 2020 was told that the cancer was back and was stage three.
The singer, 73, was being treated for cancer at the same time as younger sister Linda, but her treatment was successful and that same year she was declared to be cancer-free.
"I wish Linda had the same results I had,” she told OK! in 2021. “Finding out I’m cancer-free has definitely been bittersweet.”
She went on: "Normally I’d have been over the moon, but it was so hard to say I was clear of cancer at the time because Linda hadn’t had her results back. But Linda was great. She didn’t make me feel bad. It was definitely bittersweet."
Coleen Nolan
In 2023, Loose Women presenter Coleen revealed that she had skin cancer. The TV star, 59, said she had carcinoma on her shoulder and pre-melanoma on her face.
Speaking on the ITV show she explained that she had been diagnosed after going to get a red patch of skin checked out. However, she assured fans that she was going to be fine, saying in a video on Instagram: “I don’t have dangerous skin cancer because I found it in time.”
Coleen recently shared that she frequently checks for signs of cancer because it has hit her family so hard. "We have had so much heartache..." she told the Mirror. "I’m always checking. I still have this thing when I think, ‘What if I have missed it?'"
