Tom Jones has confirmed that his wife of 59 years, Melinda Rose Woodward, better known as Linda has died from cancer.
The couple were childhood sweethearts and married when they were just 16-years-old after they grew up together in south Wales
Jones, the veteran Welsh singer who' was recently one of the four coaches on the BBC television talent show The Voice UK - before being dramatically fired - had been married to Linda since 1957 before he rose to fame in the mid-1960s.
The couple have one son, Mark Woodward, who's also the singer's manager.
According to a statement on Jones' website, she passed away in Los Angeles after "a short but fierce battle with cancer", adding "Surrounded by her husband and loved ones, she passed away peacefully."
Despite the longevity of the relationship, Jones said in his autobiography, Over The Top and Back Again, that it was a difficult marriage and admitted he had been unfaithful several times. At one time the singer had infamously boasted that at the height of his fame he had bedded more than 250 women in one year.
Despite Jones’ frequent and well-publicised affairs, he maintained that Linda had lost her temper at him on only one occasion and lashed out after discovering his infidelity with former Miss World Marjorie Wallace in 1976.
He said: “I stood there and took it. She chinned me.”
In the book he also opened up about his wife’s battle with depression, saying she has “lost her spark” and become increasingly reclusive in recent years. However he insisted that their marriage had remained strong despite her illness.
Linda is the love of my life, and she still is, even though she doesn’t look like she did. I don’t look like I did either, but I try my best,” he said.
