Sir Tom Jones had been married to his wife Linda for 59 years before she tragically lost her battle to cancer in April this year.
And over the weekend, the Welsh legend opened up to his fans about losing his childhood sweetheart for the first time in what was an overwhelmingly emotional speech.
At the Hay Festival in Wales, Tom told fans that dealing with the loss is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.
The 75-year-old said:
“It's very difficult, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
"We were married for 59 years, we knew each other since we were kids. It was fast, she had cancer.
"I was in the Philippines, that was when I got the call, that it was terminal. I had to stop. So I flew back to Los Angeles and she had a week left, in the hospital."
And it was said there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as fans wept alongside their idol.
Married at just 16 years old, Tom and Linda are parents to Mark, now 59.
Despite almost sixty years of marriage, the Sex Bomb singer has earned himself quite the reputation as a ladies man during his career. Although he continues to insist that Linda was his world.
Speaking to a spokesperson from GQ, Tom explained in tears that his marriage always remained solid, and on breaking up, he said:
“No. Never. Never crossed my mind; it didn’t cross her mind. It was solid. We had a solid marriage that nothing could shake and we both felt that.
“I felt very lucky to have fallen in love at an early age. We were teenagers. We fell in love, not just in lust. A lot of teenagers fall in lust and then it doesn’t last. But we knew this thing was forever, for as long as we would be alive. That’s how strong the marriage was.”
Tom’s performance at the Hay Festival this weekend was his first since Linda passed, as he cancelled some tour dates during her illness, and it had been rumoured that his upcoming Eurpoean tour would be cancelled, too.
But the former The Voice judge explained that his teenage love wouldn’t let Tom give up on singing.
He revealed that Linda told him:
“I have to do it. When Linda passed away it hit me so hard I didn't know whether I could or not, I really didn't. I said, 'Linda I don't know what I'm going to do.' She could see I was devastated, and I was. She said 'Don't worry, you'll be alright. Don't worry about it. Just go forward'."
Our thoughts are with you, Tom.