Friends and family gather for funeral of Linda Nolan in Blackpool

Celebrities were among the crowd gathering outside St Paul’s as hundreds turned out, with Linda’s family keen to welcome anyone who wished to attend.

Mourners were told she would have “loved all the fuss”.

The Faith Hill song There You’ll Be was played as the singer’s coffin was taken into the church, which was packed with mourners, including people standing at the back.

In a eulogy, her sister Denise Nolan-Anderson said: “She really loved going to premieres and opening nights, having her beautiful hair and make-up done, and always was the life and soul of any big occasion.

“She would have loved all the fuss today.”

Actor Shane Richie was among the first people to arrive for the funeral, which started at 10.30am.

Other stars including comedian Tommy Cannon and singer Lisa Maffia arrived shortly after.

A framed photo of Linda was placed on an easel outside the church.

Paul Elliott, the comedian better known as Paul Chuckle, paid tribute to Linda Nolan as he arrived at her funeral in Blackpool.

He said of the singer: “She was just a fun, bubbly person. The world’s a darker place without her.”

He said they had performed together in pantomimes and at charity functions, and they last met for lunch in 2024.

Elliott added: “She was just a wonderful person, we always got on well.”

Linda married her husband of more than two decades, Brian Hudson, in the Blackpool church, and said goodbye to him there after he died in 2007, according to her family.

Dublin-born singer Linda died on January 15 at the age of 65 in the seaside town’s hospital, surrounded by her family.

Her sister Anne posted on Instagram, saying “we lay our wonderful sister Linda to rest” this weekend.

“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.”

“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 on Instagram said.

The message also described Linda as a “beloved sister, friend and entertainer” and a “symbol of hope, humour and resilience”.

The family are raising money for Trinity Hospice, which Linda supported, and have asked that donations and messages of condolence should be sent to a memorial page in her memory.

More than £2,450 has been raised on the Much Loved site so far.

Linda, who rose to fame in family group The Nolans with her 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.

The singer was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with double pneumonia earlier this month, and went into a coma, according to her manager Dermot McNamara.

He said she died “with her loving siblings by her bedside”.

Linda had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and was 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.

Linda said she had started taking the life-extending drug Enhertu, in August 2024, which she described as “amazing”, and pushed for other people to have this “opportunity” to take it.

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, Linda helped to raise more than £20 million for numerous charities, including Breast Cancer Now, Irish Cancer Society and Samaritans.