Sir Tom Jones shared a remarkable 59-year marriage with his childhood sweetheart, Melinda Rose Trenchard—fondly known as Lady Linda. Although their relationship faced its share of challenges over the decades, their bond remained strong. Linda passed away in 2016 following a brief but courageous battle with cancer. Her loss deeply devastated Sir Tom, leaving an enduring impact on his life.
In an interview with the Daily Star, when asked whether he held himself responsible for his wife’s passing, Sir Tom reflected: “You can’t help but wonder—what if I had insisted she see a doctor sooner?”
“After my wife passed away, the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song, What Good Am I?, took on a deeply personal meaning,” Sir Tom shared.
“As I listened, I found myself reflecting—Was I partly to blame? Should I have noticed the signs earlier?
By the time we discovered her illness, it was already too late. I kept asking myself, What more could I have done?”
“That song took on a whole new meaning for me—it became incredibly moving,” Sir Tom, now 79, revealed.
He admitted that he needed therapy before he could bring himself to perform his rendition of the Bob Dylan classic again.
“When she passed, it hit me like a thunderbolt,” he said. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to sing that song again.
It was the one that truly frightened me—because it was her favorite.”
“I went through therapy in Los Angeles,” Sir Tom shared. “The therapist advised me, ‘Don’t make any major decisions just yet—give yourself some time.’
I opened up about the song, and she told me, ‘That’s exactly the one you should face first. Confront what you’re afraid of.’
I realized that if I could approach it with emotional balance, I might be able to return to music. So I gave it a try—I gathered a few of my musicians, and that became the first step forward. That moment was incredibly healing.”
Sir Tom also admitted that both he and his son Mark were heartbroken by Linda’s passing, but they leaned on each other for strength and found a way through their grief together.
Reflecting on the loss, Sir Tom said:
“When something that devastating happens, you’re left completely unprepared—you don’t know how to cope. It was a kind of pain I had never experienced before.
At the end of the day, I’m human. We all are.
When you lose someone you truly love, it knocks the wind out of you—it shakes you to your core.
But you have to find a way to keep going. If you don’t, you risk falling apart, and others around you will suffer too. You have to think of your family—you owe it to them to stay strong.”