Dr Feelgood guitarist honoured with train tribute

Wilko Johnson, who has blue eyes, stares directly into the camera with a serious expression on his face. He wears a black shirt and is pictured against a dark background. He's holding a guitar, where only the neck and fretboard is pictured.Image source, Mark Allan/BBC
Image caption,

Legendary Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson died in 2022

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A legendary musician will have a train named in his honour, a rail operator says.

Wilko 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.

A white, yellow and grey c2c train travels on the railway beside a stretch of sandy beach and sea on one side, and a grassy bank on the other. It is a sunny day. There are blue skies.Image source, Andy Rose
Image caption,

c2c trains take passengers between Shoeburyness in Essex, and London

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 time.

He 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 2014.

The 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.

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