Coleen Nolan pays tribute to her "beautiful sister" Linda on 66th birthday

The late Irish singer Linda, who was part of family pop group The Nolans alongside sisters Coleen, Maureen, Bernie, Denise and Anne, died "peacefully" surrounded by her family last month in a Blackpool hospital.

Linda passed away aged 65 from double pneumonia after battling with cancer for the past two decades.

Having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, she was given the all-clear in 2011 but in 2017 she was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, which began to spread in 2020, reaching her brain by 2023.

Linda would have turned 66 on Febraury 23 and her youngest sister - Blackpool born Coleen Nolan - took to social media to acknowledge the bitter sweet occasion.

In a post shared to both her X and Instagram on Sunday, Coleen, 59, said: "To my beautiful sister, think of you everyday, but especially today on your birthday.

"I miss you so much and life won't be the same without you in it."

The post was accompanied with a video of the pair dancing at a party as choral music plays in the background.

Linda's funeral took place at St Paul's Church in Blackpool earlier this month, which saw her arrive in a pink sparkly coffin as members of the public applauded.

During the ceremony, her sister Denise Nolan-Anderson said Linda would have "loved all the fuss", describing her as the "life and soul of any big occasion".

A number of The Nolans have been diagnosed with cancer.

Coleen revealed she had been diagnosed with skin cancer last year, and was using a chemotherapy cream to remove it.

Anne, who featured in TV series The Nolans Go Cruising, was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2020 but is now cancer-free.

Bernie died of breast cancer in 2013 aged 52.

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With The Nolans, Linda recorded hits such as Gotta Pull Myself Together and I'm In The Mood For Dancing in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The group had three UK top 10 singles and two top 10 albums.

Linda appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and her musical theatre career included Blood Brothers, Pump Boys And Dinettes and Prisoner Cell Block H. She also wrote a Daily Mirror column.