The family of the late pop star Linda Nolan of The Nolans have announced that "everyone is welcome" at the funeral for the Dublin-born singer.
A memorial for Nolan will take place on Saturday at St Paul's Church in Blackpool at 10.30am. She died on January 15 aged 65 in the seaside town’s hospital surrounded by her family.
The service is to be held in the church where Nolan married husband of more than two decades Brian Hudson, and where she said goodbye to him after he died in 2007, according to her family.
On Thursday, her sister Anne Nolan posted on Instagram saying "we lay our wonderful sister Linda to rest" this weekend.
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"There’s been a bit of confusion regarding the church service and the crematorium. Just to clarify everyone is welcome to both services," she added.
"There may not be seating available as both places are small and obviously we are a big family so most of the seating will be taken by us but if you don’t mind standing we would love you to be there and we know Linda would be thrilled."
The family are also raising money for Trinity Hospice, which Nolan supported, and have asked that donations and messages of condolences should be sent to a memorial page in her memory.
Nolan, who rose to fame in family group The Nolans with sisters Coleen, Maureen, Bernie, Denise and Anne, had long been a campaigner and fundraiser for cancer awareness, having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.
"Everyone who knew Linda, or whose lives she touched, are welcome to come and pay their respects as we remember her remarkable life," The Nolans’ official page said on Instagram.
"Fans and public are welcome to gather outside the church for the funeral – and in true Linda spirit, the more the merrier."
The message also called Nolan a "beloved sister, friend and entertainer" along with a "symbol of hope, humour and resilience".
The singer was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with double pneumonia earlier this month, before going into a coma, according to her manager Dermot McNamara.
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He said she died "with her loving siblings by her bedside".
Nolan had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, given the all-clear in 2011, but in 2017 was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.
In 2020, it spread and by 2023 was in her brain.
She was also known for Celebrity Big Brother, a Daily Mirror column, and musical theatre appearances in shows such as Blood Brothers, Pump Boys And Dinettes and Prisoner Cell Block H.
Outside her TV and musical career, Nolan helped to raise more than £20 million for numerous charities, including Breast Cancer Now, the Irish Cancer Society, Samaritans and others.
Source: Press Association
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