John Andrew Wilkinson (12 July 1947 – 21 November 2022), better known by the stage name Wilko Johnson, was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter and occasional actor.

Born on 12 July 1947 in Canvey Island, Essex, Johnson went to Westcliff High School for Boys and played in several local groups, before attending Newcastle University to study for a BA in English Language and Literature.

[8][9] He later played a vintage 1962 Fender Telecaster with rosewood fingerboard which he bought in 1974, shortly after Dr. Feelgood signed their first record deal.

[10] Johnson developed his own image, coupling jerky movements on stage, his so-called "duck walk" (inherited from Chuck Berry),[11] with a choppy guitar style, occasionally raising his guitar to his shoulder like a gun,[12] and a novel dress sense: he favoured a black suit and a pudding bowl haircut.

[13] It evolved from a failed attempt to copy Mick Green of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, a guitarist whom Johnson greatly admired.

[14] His Bo Diddley-influenced style formed the essential driving force behind Dr. Feelgood during their initial years, including the band's first four albums, Down by the Jetty, Malpractice, Stupidity, and Sneakin' Suspicion, all released between 1975 and 1977.

"[5] In 1977, he was a founding member of Solid Senders, with keyboardist John Potter, bassist Steve Lewins, and drummer Alan Platt.

[18] This resulted in the inclusion of two tracks by The Wilko Johnson Band ("Dr. Feelgood" and "Twenty Yards Behind"), on a hit double album of recordings from the festival.

Around 1984 he then re-formed The Wilko Johnson Band, joined by Blockhead bassist Norman Watt-Roy and Italian born drummer Salvatore Ramundo.

'Sav' Ramundo left the band in June 1999 and was replaced by Steve Monti (future Curve and the Jesus and Mary Chain drummer).

[17] The studio album Red Hot Rocking Blues was released in 2005; this contained covers of classics by the likes of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Lead Belly.

[21] Johnson appeared in the Julien Temple-directed documentary film Oil City Confidential (2009), where he related his memories of Canvey Island and Dr. Feelgood.

[27] However, on 13 July 2013, he performed an unannounced hour-long live set with Norman Watt-Roy and Dylan Howe at the Village Green Festival in his home town of Westcliff-on-Sea.

In July 2013, the pub replaced their sign with a portrait of him painted by local artist Jack Melville, in honour of his long-term support of the south-east Essex music scene.

[30] In March and April 2014, Wilko, together with Watt-Roy and Howe, appeared on several UK dates as support to the "Frantic Four" (the classic line-up of Status Quo on what was billed as their last ever tour).

[37] After the tour was over, he announced he would spend his final days recording a farewell album with The Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey.

Variety reviewed the film: "Julien Temple’s characteristically playful, pop-culture savvy approach to the documentary form might seem ill-suited to the subject of mortality, but veteran English axman Johnson’s unexpectedly buoyant response to very bad news makes for a film about saying goodbye that is itself void of grief, fear or regret.

"[40] In 2016 he received an Honorary Doctor of Arts award at Anglia Ruskin University in a ceremony at Cambridge Corn Exchange.

[44][45][46] Following the announcement of Johnson's death, Billy Bragg said, "His guitar playing was angry and angular, but his presence – twitchy, confrontational, out of control – was something we'd never beheld before in UK pop.

Alex Kapranos, lead singer of Franz Ferdinand said, "His unique, wired playing & stage presence thrilled & inspired many guitarists, myself included."

"[46] For his acting debut, Johnson was cast in the role of mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne, in both the first and second season of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, from April 2011,[47][48] after the producers had seen him in Oil City Confidential.

Reviewing Johnson's autobiography, Mark Blake of Q magazine said "In the mid-70s the band's brutish R&B and their guitarist's eye-popping thousand-yard stare inspired a young John Lydon, Paul Weller, and Suggs from Madness.

Wilko recalls his childhood on Canvey Island and how he followed the '60s hippy trail to Goa ... before helping invent punk with Dr Feelgood.