Iconic musician Sir Tom Jones has shared that he harbored feelings of partial responsibility as his beloved wife, Linda, faced her declining health. The couple enjoyed nearly six decades of marriage before Linda succumbed to cancer in April 2016. In the recent installment of the BBC Arts documentary series, In My Own Words, the Welsh music icon, now 85, revealed how their relationship influenced his 2010 rendition of Bob Dylan’s “What Good Am I?”.

Reflecting on the recording process, Tom recounted, “While working on Bob Dylan’s ‘What Good Am I?’, my thoughts were with my wife, as she battled cancer. I recorded the track before her diagnosis, but her declining health and fragile mental state were on my mind, and I felt a sense of guilt,” he openly shared in the documentary.

With emotions running high, he continued, “The song’s lines, ‘What good am I if I’m like all the rest, if I just turn away when I see how you’re dressed,’ resonated deeply with me because she was struggling.”

He further reflected on his loss, “When Linda passed, I told her, ‘I don’t think I can go on without you.’”

In response, Linda urged him, “You must continue. Singing is your life’s work. Don’t let this defeat you,” he recounted, holding onto her words for strength.

Tom previously discussed Linda’s mental health issues in a 2016 interview with The Sunday Times telling them his wife “had depression since she was young” and had “lost her spark”, preferring to stay at home in Los Angeles rather than going out and about with him.

Tom and Linda married back in 1957, and remained together despite his many well-publicised infidelities.

He once famously claimed he bedded 250 women in one year at the height of his career.

But despite his self-confessed adultery, Sir Tom was completely devoted to his childhood sweetheart, whom he met in his hometown of Pontypridd at the age of 12 before they tied the knot at just 16.

The couple have one son together Mark Woodward, who works as Sir Tom’s manager.

In My Own Words, returns to BBC One and iPlayer on October 21. Tom Jones episode will broadcast on October 28.