Singing career

In 1981, Linda scored a minor hit with her sister Coleen as part of the Young & Moody Band, with "Don't Do That" (UK No. 63) which also featured Lemmy from Motörhead and Cozy Powell.^[3]

Linda left The Nolans in December 1983 and quickly gained the label "Naughty Nolan" due to her posing in risqué publicity photos.^[1][4] The Nolans reunited as a five-piece (Bernie, Anne, Coleen, Maureen and Linda) for one-off performances of "I'm in the Mood for Dancing" first for BBC One's All Time Greatest Party Songs, hosted by Tess Daly, which aired on 17 December 2005^[5] and again on 9 August 2007 on Loose Women.^[6]

Four of the sisters (Linda, Bernie, Coleen & Maureen) reunited in 2009 for a successful tour of the UK and Ireland. They also released an album I'm in the Mood Again, which reached No. 22 on the UK Albums Chart.^[7]

Musicals

On leaving the group, Linda Nolan went on to play the role of Maggie May at Blackpool's Central Pier for eight summer seasons (1986–93), clocking up more than 1,000 performances.^[8] She then starred for two seasons in a similar show on Blackpool's South Pier called Rosie O' Grady's (1994–95).

From 1996 to 1997, she starred as the prison governor in two UK tours of Prisoner: Cell Block H – The Musical, alongside Paul O'Grady.^[9]

From 2000, Linda Nolan starred as Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers for three years in the West End, and regularly played the role in the UK touring production until 2008. She was the third Nolan sister to play the role, after Bernie and Denise. Maureen Nolan has also since played the role in the West End on the UK tour for several years,^[10] earning the sisters a place in the Guinness World Records, as the most siblings to play the same role in a musical.^[11]

Other

Linda Nolan has also appeared on Blankety Blank,^[12] with sister Anne and niece Alex on Celebrity Pressure Pad^[13] and with sister Bernie on Pointless Celebrities.^[14]

Celebrity Big Brother

In January 2014, Linda Nolan participated in the thirteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother. Prior to this, her sister Coleen had participated in and achieved second place in the tenth series.^[15]

Upon learning that she was to be handcuffed, Linda confirmed her "Naughty Nolan" nickname by saying "I like a bit of bondage".^[16]

Jim Davidson, who was also a contestant in the house that year has history with Linda Nolan; in 1995, Nolan's husband Brian Hudson was caught red-handed stealing money from comic Frank Carson's dressing room at the South Pier Theatre Blackpool. This raised the ire of Davidson, who was playing up the road at the time and promptly lost his temper, yelling "no one steals from my mates" and threatened to punch him. Davidson was promptly thrown out of that nightclub.^[17] On Day 15, Nolan was reminded by Davidson of his antics, prompting an argument.^[18] She was evicted on Day 22.^[19]

Health

In 2006, Linda Nolan was diagnosed with breast cancer. As part of her treatment, she underwent a single mastectomy.^[22] She was given the all-clear from cancer in 2011. In 2007, she was diagnosed with cellulitis and lymphedema in her arm.^[20]

In 2017, Nolan fell on her hip and was taken to hospital, where doctors discovered a form of incurable secondary breast cancer on her pelvis.^[23] She began undergoing regular radiotherapy treatment to make sure that the cancer would not spread, but has said that she would reject chemotherapy if the cancer was found to be terminal, after seeing how her sister Bernie was in pain from her chemotherapy shortly before Bernie's death in 2013.^[24][25] On 27 March 2023, Linda stated that the cancer had now metastasised to her brain, with a tumour discovered on the left side of her brain, resulting in balance loss on her right side, which has led to her using a wheelchair.^[26] She also expressed interest in trying out a new drug that was released in 2022 to treat the brain cancer.^{[citation needed]}

Studio albums

EPs and mini-albums

Singles