LEE BRILLEAUX, the flamboyant frontman/harmonica player of British R&B rock legends DR. FEELGOOD passed away 30 years ago this day, on 7 April 1994 due to throat cancer, only aged 41.
The band, co-founded by eccentric guitar prodigy Wilko Johnson topped the UK Charts with their 1979 live LP, titled Stupidity, and scored several hit singles. In 1976 Brilleaux helped fund the iconic punk/new wave label Stiff Records.
Band: DR. FEELGOOD Who: Legendary British blues-punk-pub rockers Active: 1971-1994 / 6 albums with original line-up
The original line-up featured Wilko Johson. He was born named in John Andrew Wilkinson in 1947. He was known for his innovating guitar playing style which he achieved by not using a guitar pick but playing finger style. This enabled him to play rhythm guitar and riffs or solos at the same time creating a highly percussive guitar sound. Awesome. He left the band in 1977 to start his own. He passed away in 2022. Aged 75.
Original charismatic vocalist Lee Brilleaux (born Lee John Collinson in 1952) passed
away in 1994, only 42, due to lymphoma. It meant the end of the real/original group.
A sort of cover band continued/continues, legally, under the name of Dr. Feelgood.
I’ll never forget the very first time I saw WILKO JOHNSON play. I was a teenager
(yes I always was a music junkie and gig addict, actually from I was 6 and discovered The Beatles) and went with mates to London in 1976.
He blew me away with his manic, never-heard-before guitar style while running like
a madman with a stare from left to right and back on the stage of Hammersmith Odeon with rhythm & blues legendsDr. Feelogood. They just scored a no 1 hit with their awesome fuzz and buzz live album Stupidity.
Wilko (born John Peter Wilkinson in 1975 in Canvey Island, Essex, England ) was a feelgood doctor for 3 years (1974-1977) before starting his solo journey. He recorded several LPs with his band and played gigs until his last breath. Also on his shelf is the longplayer he canned with The Who‘s Roger Daltrey (‘Going Back Home‘ – 2014)
In 2013 he broke the news that he had terminal cancer and went on a farewell tour.
But after a couple of gigs, he had to call it a day due to his devastating condition.
Sometime later Johnson announced that he was cured and cancer-free and (there must
be a rock God?) and he returned with what his heart and soul and his guitar did for a very longtime: entertaining countless fans with his razzle-dazzle rock ‘n roll music until 2 days ago.
Via his Twitter account, just today, we got the dreadful news: “This is the announcement we never wanted to make, & we do so with a very heavy heart: Wilko Johnson has died. He passed away at home on Monday 21st November. Thank you for respecting the family’s privacy at this very sad time. RIP Wilko Johnson.
Paul Weller once said: “Wilko may not be as famous as some other guitarists, but
he’s right up there. And there are a lot of people who’ll say the same. I can hear Wilko
in lots of places. It’s some legacy.”
Three great Wilko moments.
– Live with Dr. Feelogood –
– The Wilko Johnson Band –
Live on Later With Jools Holland – 2011
