Julien Temple’s film The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson, which charts the Dr. Feelgood guitarist’s death-defying fight against cancer, will be released on DVD this December.
The life and times of Wilko Johnson have always been unpredictable, but when news broke of his cancer diagnosis in January 2013 few could have imagined the incredibly inspiring story which would play out during the next year or so.
After initially greeting the diagnosis by throwing himself into a farewell tour and a recording studio with Roger Daltrey, Johnson has said it was a call from a friend the following October, inquiring as to ‘why he wasn’t dead yet’, which persuaded him to revisit doctors for a new prognosis.
He was found to have a less aggressive form of the disease than initially feared, and underwent surgery on what he was first told was an inoperable disease soon after. By the autumn of last year he was ready to declare himself ‘cured’.
This story will be told in DVD form from December 4th, when a new book carrying artwork by Jonny Halifax and an essay courtesy of biographer Zoe Howe will also be included in the package.