Tom Jones and his wife Linda and their son Mark (aged 10) move into a new house in Sunbury, Surrey in 1967. Photo: Corbis
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https://scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1935402/wife-tom-jones-dies-cancer-just-days-after-singers-cancelled-hong Lifestyle
Wife of Tom Jones dies of cancer days after singer’s Hong Kong show cancelled
Couple were childhood sweethearts and remained married for almost 60 years despite numerous infidelities by the chart-topping star
<p>Couple were childhood sweethearts and remained married for almost 60 years despite numerous infidelities by the chart-topping star </p>
The wife of British superstar singer Tom Jones has died after a short battle with cancer.
Lady Melinda Jones’ death came just says after Jones announced the cancellation of planned concerts in Asia – including a scheduled April 7 show in Hong Kong – and the Middle East due to a serious illness in his family. He did not say at the time that the illness involved his wife, known as Linda.
In a message on social media posted Monday the Wales-born singer announced that Linda, his wife of 59 years, had passed away.
The 75-year-old singer said his wife had fought a “short but fierce battle with cancer”.
The statement added: “Surrounded by her husband and loved ones, she passed away peacefully at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
The couple became childhood sweethearts when they were both aged 12 and living in the south Wales mining village of Treforest, Pontypridd. They started dating when they were aged 15 and married at 16. Next year would have been their 60th wedding anniversary. The couple had one son, Mark, who is the singer’s manager.
Despite Jones’ numerous infidelities – he admits he slept with up to 250 women a year at the height of his fame – he has said he only ever loved his wife, writing that he “never had that feeling for anyone else, I don’t think you can fall in love more than once”.