Rita Wilson wanted Tom Hanks to be "sad for a really, really long time" if she died of cancer.

The 69-year-old singer-and-actress was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2015 and she's recalled making two specific requests of her husband when she got the news, including urging him to celebrate her life if the worst were to happen.

Speaking at the Sound of a Woman: Rita Wilson in Conversation with Demi Moore event at New York City's 92NY on Tuesday (28.04.26), Rita explained how she wrote her 2019 song Throw Me a Party after being diagnosed with "invasive" cancer.

The Asteroid City star - who underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery - said: "I'm here. Yay!

"The song … it came out of this, this story I've told before, but if you haven't heard it, it was, when you get the diagnosis and you're like, 'I don't know, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I hope I'm still here, you know, in a few years.'

"But I said to Tom, I'm like, 'Okay, if, if something happens and I go first, I just have two requests. And one is that you should be sad for a very, very long time.'

"The second one was throw me a party. I want it to be a celebration of life. I want it to be about people telling stories and joy and, remembering me in that way. And I think people, a lot of people want that, you know? I think there's room for that."

On 31 March 2025, Rita expressed her gratitude as she marked being cancer-free for a decade.

She said in a video shared to Instagram: "It's a celebration for me. March 31st marks 10 years of being cancer-free. 10 years. And I am so deeply grateful.

"I'm so thankful to my doctors. To my friends, to my family. The gratitude is overwhelming. Didn't always feel this way. And you know that, anybody who's going through [it, or] who's survived knows that it's an up and down, like, hamster wheel. But then you get to this point."

Rita noted she doesn't "talk about it much" but it felt right to acknowledge the medical anniversary.

She said: "I think it's important to celebrate good news.

"I am thinking of anybody out there who might be going through some difficulties. You're in my thoughts and prayers. Anyways, God bless you all."