John Lydon dedicates Eurovision entry ‘Hawaii’ to wife

Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has dedicated his upcoming entry into the Eurovision song contest to his wife.

The Public Image Ltd singer is hoping to represent Ireland with his band at this year’s event with new song ‘Hawaii’.

Lydon has previously described ‘Hawaii’ as a “love letter” to his wife of nearly 50 years, Nora, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Speaking about the song recently, Lydon said: “My wife when she sees this, it’s going to melt her, Alzheimer’s or not. It’s the most rewarding thing.

“It is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most,” he said of the track in a statement, adding: “It’s also a message of hope that ultimately love conquers all.”

In a new interview with The Sun, Lydon opened up more about the song and why he is dedicating it to his wife.

Lydon said: “We spent a magnificent holiday in Hawaii after a tour once and it was just the greatest week of our lives.

“Now her memories are fading, I wanted to bring something like that back to her. I get broke up even thinking about it.”

In 2020, Lydon said he threw out a planned album with the band in order to care for her.

The 2023 Eurovision competition will take place in Liverpool in May, beating Glasgow to stage the contest on behalf of Ukraine after organisers deemed the country unable to host the event due to their ongoing war with Russia.

Ahead of Eurovision 2023, a call out has been made for creatives to take part in a cultural festival, which is to be held alongside the Liverpool contest.

As per the BBC, Culture Liverpool stated that the planned event would celebrate UK music, Eurovision and modern Ukraine. They added that they were welcoming applications from creatives who live in the nations competing in Eurovision 2023, particularly artists from Ukraine and Liverpool.

In other news, the Eurovision Song Contest has announced major voting changes for 2023. Next year’s event will see professional juries scrapped from the semi-finals, meaning that viewers alone will choose who qualifies for the grand final rather than a mix of jury and viewers.

Although the people’s votes will count in the semis, the professional juries will return to contribute to the grand final.