Singer Tom Jones left the audience in tears as he sang a beautiful tribute to his wife on “The Voice.” Jones’ co-star on the show Anne-Marie walked off stage crying after being moved by his tribute to Melinda Trenchard, his late wife of 59 years. The beautiful moment came during the audition stage of “The Voice UK.” Sir Tom Jones was joined by Olly Murs, Anne-Marie, and Will.i.am in the classic red chairs with Emma Willis hosting the show. The clip of Tom Jones singing “I Won’t Crumble With You If You Fall” for his wife has gone viral. It started as a discussion about them revealing what song they would sing at their hypothetical auditions.
Tom Jones revealed he would sing a power ballad and the crowd cheered, asking him to sing. I try to pick songs that mean a lot to me. It’s a very important song to me. People that you love, they need to be backed up. You need to give them strength and encouragement. So that’s what this song means: I’ll do anything for you but I won’t crumble if you fall. He then starts singing the song and there isn’t a dry eye in the room. Anne-Marie was visibly moved by Jones’ rendition, tears flowing down her cheeks, calling it “one of the best moments of my life.” Olly Murs added, “That was so special.” Jones then revealed the backstory of why the song was so special to him. “My wife was dying of lung cancer. I was always able to fix stuff. I was always able to do things if she ever needed me for anything. I was always there. She said, ‘You can’t crumble with me. Don’t fall with me now. You’ve done everything you can, you must carry on and do what you do. When I heard this song, I felt it was written for this situation,” he said.
Anne-Marie said she was so moved by the performance that she had to walk off set for a few seconds to gather herself. “Tom sang one of his songs called ‘Crumble’ for his wife. And I had to walk off, not because it was bad, [but] because it was so emotional,” she said. “I think this is like a testament to him and why he has been able to stay around [for] so long because he feels every word he says and every song he releases he means it. And he was singing that song and he said, ‘This is to my wife’ and he just f****d me up.”
What an amazing television moment when Tom Jones @RealSirTomJones sang, I Won’t Crumble If You Fall, on the music program The Voice tonight, making @iamwill shed tears and another panelist cry.
A stunningly beautiful song he wrote for his late wife, Melinda who died from cancer. pic.twitter.com/RtGaE4IZLP
— Hopewell Chin’ono (@daddyhope) September 3, 2022
Olly Murs was stunned by the performance as well. “To see someone who loved his wife so much, you could see the pain,” he said. The couple met when they were 12 and got married by 16. The couple shares a son named Mark, who also helped manage his father’s career. Linda would die of cancer in 2016 after 59 years of marriage to Jones. People couldn’t get enough of Jones’ performance. Another added, “Wow. Just wow. 81 years old. Legend Tom Jones sings with heart and soul on #TheVoice.” Another user commented, “I cant think of any other 82-year-old who has the power and tone of Tom Jones. What an incredible voice. Brought tears to my eyes.”
Tom Jones spoke of what his wife told him during her final days. “I was there in the hospital room with her for the last 10 days and I said, ‘My god Linda, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself because I won’t be able to sing, I won’t be able to get the words out,'” said Tom Jones, reported Smooth Radio. “She said: ‘You must!'” She said: ‘Don’t fall with me! You know, I gotta go. But you don’t have to. And you’ve got to go and do what we planned to do,’ which was to move back to London,” he added.
