Wilko Johnson has cancelled shows to have radical cancer surgery.
The former Dr Feelgood guitarist has had a major operation in an attempt to treat his pancreatic cancer, after he was given 10 months to live when he rejected chemotherapy, and has had to cancel 14 shows in May and July.
A source told the BBC: "Doctors are hopeful that following the surgery the prognosis for Wilko will be positive."
The 66-year-old musician defied the doctors’ predictions and he has now had his "football-sized" tumour removed as well as his pancreas, spleen and part of his stomach.
He had 14 gigs scheduled which have been scrapped to allow him time to recover from the operation.
A representative said: "Dr Feelgood legend Wilko Johnson has today reluctantly had to cancel all of his public engagements.
"Wilko, currently riding high in the UK album chart with the Roger Daltrey collaboration ‘Going Back Home’, has sought further advice about his pancreatic cancer and as a result has undergone a medical procedure that will see him out of action for the foreseeable future."
The star gave an interview to Tony Parsons for GQ magazine before the operation and spoke of his friend’s shock at how he was still alive.
He said: "A friend of mine – who is both a photographer and a cancer doctor – became curious as to why I wasn’t dead. And why I wasn’t even sick."
Wilko Johnson has major cancer surgery
