Wilko Johnson, whose machine-gun guitar style and manic stage presence was a major influence on punk, has died.
The musician found fame with the 1970s pub-rock band Dr Feelgood, and later played with Ian Dury before embarking on a four-decade solo career. He also starred in two series of Game Of Thrones as the mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne. Ten years ago he survived what was initially diagnosed as a terminal case of pancreatic cancer. The musician refused chemotherapy to embark on a farewell tour. "The decision was quite easy - chemotherapy could do no more than extend my life for a relatively short period and I thought I'd just rather enjoy the health that was left to me," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. However, later tests discovered that the guitarist's pancreatic cancer was in fact a rare and less aggressive neuroendocrine tumour. He underwent a radical, 11-hour operation that removed his pancreas, spleen and parts of his stomach and intestines, and was declared cancer-free in 2014. "Now, I'm spending my time gradually coming to terms with the idea that my death is not imminent, that I am going to live on," he said at that year's Q awards.
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