John Lydon drank 'non-stop' for three months after wife's death

John Lydon has said he drank “non-stop” for three months after the death of his wife.

The Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd star’s wife Nora passed away in April this year at the age of 80, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2018.

Opening up on the XS Noize podcast, the star said he went through a period of drinking but that he had since quit and was now “getting fit”.

Read more: John Lydon says wife's Alzheimer's 'shaped me into what I am'

“There was a period there of three months solid of just non-stop drinking,” Lydon, 67, said.

“And I wasn’t getting drunk and it wasn't helping push the sadness away and I stopped. And that was hell, hell.

“But I’m getting better and I’m focusing more on doing things right rather than selfishly saddened.”

“If Nora is around and looking at me the last thing she wants to see is me crying into a bottle of whisky,” said the star.

The rocker said that nights could be "terrible" as he was in an empty house without Nora, who he first met in 1975 and tied the knot with in 1979.

But he said that he had been given "the gift of life" and that moving forwards was a series of "ladders” to be climbed.

Lydon has previously told how he cared for his wife during her illness, and has spoken of the impact Alzheimer's had on the couple.

Read more: John Lydon emotional about leaving wife to perform for his Eurovision bid

In an interview with The Sunday Times earlier this year, he said: “All the things I thought were the ultimate agony seem preposterous now. It’s shaped me into what I am."

Watch: John Lydon refuses to wallow in "self-pity" since becoming carer for his wife Nora Forster