Cilla Black said she wanted to die before 75 because she didn't want to be a 'burden'

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

Cilla Black spoke of wanting to die before the age of 75 so she would not have to endure a painful death like her mother in an interview just a year before she passed away.

The late singer and entertainer, who died on Sunday aged 72, described 75 as a “good age to go” in one of her final interviews.

Black suffered with arthritis and severe hearing problems and said she felt as though her body was “falling apart”.

"Seventy-five is a good age to go, I still think that way," she told The Mirror in 2014.

“Secretly I don’t want to linger. I don’t want to be a burden on anybody. I know 75 is only four years away but I take each day as I find it.

“The hearing is the bugbear. I now have an implant in my ear to help my hearing which I have to turn off at night. I’m talking in an echo chamber at the moment. I guess that’s just getting old – it’ll come to you, too.”

Her mother developed the painful bone disease osteoporosis before her death aged 84.

“She said to me once, ‘I’m trying to die but I can’t’. Oh God, it was heart-breaking. The brain was great but the body wasn’t,” Black said.

"I think that’s what made me feel like this. My biggest fear is going like that when I can’t control my body.”

Black is believed to have died of natural causes at her home in Estepona, in Spain, after travelling there with one of her sons a few days previously. A post mortem is due to take place today. Her publicist said details of her death would be released after a coroner's report was complete.

Black’s many friends and colleagues paid tribute to the television legend and national treasure on Sunday, with entertainer Paul O’Grady remembering her as a “strong woman” and like a sister to him. David Cameron praised Black as a “huge talent” who made a significant contribution to public life in Britain.