Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten announces death of wife Nora Forster at 80

Johnny Rotten is mourning the death of his wife, Nora Forster, who had been living with Alzheimer's disease for several years.

The Sex Pistols frontman, whose real name is John Lydon, shared the news of Forster's death at 80 in a statement posted to social media Thursday. Alongside a sweet picture of the two embracing, the statement said, "It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster - John Lydon's wife of nearly 5 decades - has passed away."

Noting that Lydon had become his wife's "full time carer" in recent years, the statement concluded, "Please respect John's grief and allow him space. Rest in Peace Nora. Heart felt condolences to John from Rambo and all at PiL Official."

Lydon had long been open about his wife's diagnosis, which he first revealed in a 2018 radio interview. At the time, he said she was in the "mid-stages of Alzheimer's."

In the years following, he would continue to discuss Forster's condition and how he was taking care of her.

"I am her full-time carer and I won't let anyone mess up with her head," he told The Mirror in 2020. "For me the real person is still there. That person I love is still there every minute of every day and that is my life. It's unfortunate that she forgets things, well, don't we all?"

Brian Rasic/Getty Nora Foster and John Lydon in 2013

More recently, Lydon appeared on season 6 of The Masked Singer as the Jester. After being unmasked, he revealed on stage that part of his reason for doing the show was to make his wife smile. "We've been married 45 years," he said. "And no sadness, you know, because [we're] at a certain point now in our lives where she's suffering from Alzheimer's, and it's my job as her main protector and love of my life to look after her, and she will love this."

Forster and Lydon married in 1979. She was a publishing heiress, actress, and model, as well as a music promoter who provided financial support to the Sex Pistols, the Slits, and the Clash.

Related content:

• The Masked Singer reveals 2 famous musicians in shocking double elimination

• Pistol director Danny Boyle says being criticized by Sex Pistols icon John Lydon is 'a small price to pay'

• Pistol director Danny Boyle says punk-rock encouraged him to do 'whatever the f---' he wanted