Wilko Johnson, British rocker who defied cancer, dies at 75

Wilko Johnson, British rocker who defied cancer, dies at 75

LONDON
Wilko Johnson, British rocker who defied cancer, dies at 75

Wilko Johnson, the guitarist with British blues-rock band Dr. Feelgood who had an unexpected career renaissance after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, has died. He was 75.

A statement posted on Nov. 23 on Johnson’s official social media accounts on behalf of his family said the musician died on Nov 22 evening at his home in southeast England.

Born John Wilkinson in 1947, Johnson worked as a schoolteacher before forming Dr. Feelgood with other local friends. At a time of flamboyant glam and indulgent prog rock, they played a then-unfashionable brand of blues and R&B, dressed in cheap suits that made them look, Johnson said later, like “shoddy bank robbers.”

Johnson helped give Dr. Feelgood a dangerous edge with his choppy, relentless guitar style and thousand-yard glare — a look terrifying enough to earn him a role later in life as silent executioner Ser Ilyn Payne on “Game of Thrones.”

The anarchic outfit inspired bands who would soon drive the U.K. punk explosion, and teetered on the edge of global fame, scoring a U.K. No. 1 album, tours of the U.S. and a deal with CBS records.

Then in 1977 Johnson walked out amid friction with charismatic lead singer Lee Brilleaux, who died in 1994.

He went on to perform with Ian Dury’s band, the Blockheads, and spent years playing to a devoted fanbase, largely in the U.K. and Japan.

In 2012, Johnson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told it was terminal. The prospect of death unexpectedly revived his creative energies. He declined chemotherapy, decided to go on one last tour, and recorded a “final” album, “Going Back Home,” with Roger Daltrey of The Who.

“I suddenly found myself in a position where nothing matters anymore,” he told the Associated Press in 2013. “I’m a miserable so-and-so normally... I’d be worrying about the taxman or all the things that we worry about that get in the way of the real things. And suddenly it doesn’t matter. All of that doesn’t matter.”

In another twist, a fan who was also a cancer specialist offered to help. After surgery to remove a 3-kilogram tumor, Johnson announced in 2014 he was cancer-free.

He released another album, “Blow Your Mind,” in 2018, and played gigs with his Wilko Johnson Band until last month.