The Agony and the Love: Johnny Rotten opens up on the heartache of being a full time carer for his Alzheimer’s-suffering wife Nora

THE former Sex Pistols singer, better known by punk moniker Johnny Rotten, has opened up about looking after his partner after 40 years of marriage.

 “Nora has Alzheimer’s… I am her full-time carer and I won’t let anyone mess up with her head.

“For me, the real person is still there. That person I love is still there every minute of every day and that is my life. It’s unfortunate that she forgets things, well, don’t we all?”

Lydon noted that Nora has, despite her worsening condition, never lost sight of his identity. “It’s quite amazing, as the alleged experts we have had to deal with at enormous expense have said, that they have been very impressed that she never ever forgets me, we are constantly there with each other [in her mind] and that bit won’t go,” he said.

“Why pay for professionals to work on this when I think the message is, ‘A bit of love goes a long way’,” he continued. “It gets worse and worse, bits of the brain store less and less memory, and then suddenly some bits completely vanish.” He also told how the couple had searched out experts in their quest for the best possible care as Nora’s condition deteriorated.

The couple married in 1979, with Rotten becoming step-dad to Nora’s daughter, The Slits singer Ari Up, who was just six years younger than her mum’s new husband.

Lydon stated that he will never put her into a nursing home.