Sir Billy Connolly, 82, has been quietly enjoying his later years away from the limelight in the US, but his heart still belongs to Scotland.
The beloved comedian, who retired from stand-up in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer, opened up about his final wish — to be buried in his homeland.
In his ITV series Billy Connolly’s Ultimate World Tour, the comic reflected on the deep pull of his roots. “I remember standing by the shores of Loch Lomond, Inversnaid, and the sky was beautiful,” he said. “There’s that line — ‘Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said, this is my own, my native land.’ Sometimes your love for the place just needs a stage.”
Then, with a mix of tenderness and humour that has defined his career, he admitted, “I’d like to die there. It’s a weird subject to bring up, but I wouldn’t like to stay away forever. I’d like to be planted there eventually – in Loch Lomond.”
Connolly, who now lives in Florida with his wife Pamela Stephenson, beat cancer but continues to live with the challenges of Parkinson’s. Despite this, he remains philosophical about mortality. “My life, it’s slipping away,” he said in 2019. “I can feel it — and I should. I’m nearer the end than the beginning. But it doesn’t frighten me; it’s an adventure.”
He spoke movingly about losing his memory, balance, and hearing, describing it with his signature wit: “It’s like somebody’s in charge of you, saying: ‘I added all these bits when you were young, now it’s time to subtract.’”
For Sir Billy, the final act of life is not one of fear, but of belonging — a desire to return home to the land that made him.
