Noddy Holder: Slade musician diagnosed with terminal cancer with ‘months to live’ five years ago

Slade musician Noddy Holder was only given ‘months to live’ after being diagnosed with cancer five years ago, his wife has revealed.  The 77-year-old guitarist and singer of the band, whose hits include Merry Xmas Everybody, quietly underwent treatment for oesophageal cancer and was just given six months to live.

Suzan Holder, who made the revelation in local magazine Great British Life, said she was incredibly moved to watch her husband perform on stage this year despite being given the ‘devastating’ terminal diagnosis five years ago.

She wrote: “To watch him do what he does so brilliantly was thrilling, entertaining and profoundly moving. You see, five years ago we were given the devastating news that he had oesophageal cancer and only had six months to live.

“I’m sorry if that comes as a bit of a shock; it came as a total bombshell to us too. We coped with it the only way we could, by hunkering down, sticking together and doing everything we could to survive it. 

“We told only immediate close family and friends and I will never apologise to those we did not confide in, only to those who were forced to suffer pain and anguish alongside us as we attempted to navigate our way through this new and horrifying world. They held our hands and kept our confidence. We truly found out who our real friends are.”

She also paid tribute to Noddy’s “amazing good humour and breath-taking bravery” amidst a “gruelling course of experimental treatment as part of a brand-new trial of intense chemotherapy.”

She said: “There were no guarantees, no one knew it would have any effect, let alone work miracles, but he responded well. As anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis will know, the experts never like to use the word ‘cure’, but here we are five years later and he’s feeling good and looking great.”

Suzan is also hopeful that Noddy will return to the stage in the future despite being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, as at the end of the show, “Noddy picked up the mic and belted out a couple of numbers."

She signed off her article with another Slade’s 70s hit, saying: “For now I am simply grateful my husband continues to be his mischievous, irrepressible self whatever he is up to. Look to the future now, Noddy… Coz I Luv You… ‘

What is oesophegal cancer?

According to the NHS, oesophageal cancer is a cancer that's found anywhere in the oesophagus, sometimes called the gullet or food pipe. Its symptoms, among others, include having problems swallowing, heartburn or acid reflux, feeling or being sick, and indigestion.