Latest news with #WilkoJohnson
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson honoured with train tribute
A legendary musician will have a train named in his honour, a rail operator Johnson, the guitarist for 1970s pub-rock band Dr Feelgood before a long solo career, was born on Canvey Island, Essex.c2c, which runs trains across the south of the county, said Dr Feelgood was a "cultural icon of the Essex, London and UK music scene".The new nameplate is due to be revealed later, when a train will carry passengers - including live music - from Southend Central to London Fenchurch Street. Johnson was known for his distinctive, finger-picked style that blended percussive stabs and fluid licks, allowing him to play lead and rhythm guitar at the same was given 10 months to live in 2012 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but was given the all-clear after radical surgery in musician lived in Southend-on-Sea in his later years and he died in 2022.A spokesman for c2c said the firm was working on the train event with Jonathan Maitland, who has written the upcoming West End show, Wilko. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Wilko Johnson — such a guitar hero, he's getting a train named after him
H ow many rock stars have had trains named after them? An engine bearing the name of Pete Waterman — of Stock, Aitken, Waterman fame and more a producer than a rock star — was unveiled at Crewe station last year. But apart from him the answer is none. Until now. On Monday morning the Wilko Express will be unveiled by the train operating company c2c in honour of Wilko Johnson, one of the founders of the 1970s band Dr Feelgood. It will run from Southend, where Wilko lived, to Fenchurch Street and pass through places where he spent and misspent his youth and played some of his most memorable gigs, including Westcliff, Leigh-on-Sea and Basildon. The train's commemorative plate, echoing one of his most loved songs, will bear the words: 'Wilko Johnson: 1947-2022. He did it right.' He certainly did.
Daily Mirror
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Beloved rock star 'speaks from beyond grave' amid heartbreaking final wish
DR Feelgood legend Wilko Johnson is heading to the West The guitarist, one of the forefathers of punk, died aged 75 in 2022. He once joked he would love to have made opening night of a play about him that was in the works. Sadly, that was not to be, but he would be thrilled Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll is heading to the Leicester Square Theatre. He once told the play's writer Jonathan Maitland: "I dunno if I will make opening night? I might be brown bread but there is nothing I can do about that - but otherwise I would be there applauding like mad. I just hope you enjoy the show." The play has had two well received runs already at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch, East London, last year, and South London's Southwark Playhouse this spring. It went down a storm with audiences and was snapped up for the West End by theatre bosses. Unseen footage: Wilko Johnson opens up about his excitement over a play about his life shortly before his death (Image: Daily Mirror) Producers say the play, which stars Johnson Willis as Wilko, "explores the extraordinary events when [he] was told he had one year to live in 2012" after being diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. It adds: "Refusing all treatment, he decided to spend his last months living meaningfully. Seeing the people, places and things which meant most to him during his life until a miracle happened." That miracle came when, against the odds, tests showed the cancer was not as aggressive first thought. The legendary punk artist died in 2022 (Image: Getty Images) He had the tumour removed and was declared cancer-free. By then he had already gone on a farewell tour and bagged a role as the executioner in Game of Thrones. Wilko, born John Wilkinson in Canvey Island, Essex, formed pub rock band Dr Feelgood with singer Lee Brilleaux in 1971. Early singles included She Does It Right, Back in the Night and Roxette. Their 1976 live album Stupidity topped the charts. But in 1977 Johnson left the band after a bustup. In 1980 he joined Ian Dury's band The Blockheads and had a lengthy career touring with the Wilko Johnson Band. His wife Irene died of cancer in 2004. They had two sons. ? Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll runs from July 3-27 . Tickets at
