Wilko Johnson said goodbye, now he’s saying hello

He bade his farewells, but Wilko Johnson is readjusting to life again after being declared free of pancreatic cancer, writes Ed Power

WILKO Johnson is happy to be alive. In 2013, the rock music icon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Doctors gave him 18 months to live. He said his goodbyes, announced a farewell tour and waited for the inevitable.

“The last few years have been very confusing for me,” says the amiable musician, who sounds shell-shocked. “I had accepted my life was at an end and that I would have to make the best of what time was left. It sounds odd saying this: in some ways, it was the best year of my life. I was at peace.”