Billy Bragg, Ruts DC to Join Wilko Johnson Biographical Play in Southend

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Simon Johnson, Norman Watt-Roy, and other Essex musicians will perform across the Palace Theatre run celebrating the rock legend's life.

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The UK tour of Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll - the story of the rock legend himself – will celebrate its run in Wilko's home of Essex next month with a string of special guests. Landing in Southend as part of its national tour, the show will give eight performances at the Palace Theatre from 12th–17th October, with Simon Johnson, of cult Southend band Eight Rounds Rapid, and Norman Watt-Roy, who performed alongside Wilko in both Ian Dury and the Blockheads and the Wilko Johnson Band, bringing an extra dose of local rock 'n' roll history to the stage on opening night.

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Further guests across the run include legendary Essex singer-songwriter Billy Bragg , punk icons Ruts DC, R&B virtuosos Nine Below Zero, Johnny Squirrel from rock and blues band Lew Lewis Reformer, Wilko's brother Malcolm Wilkinson, Jeff Chapman from rock band The Roosters and blues harmonica sensation Steve 'West' Weston from the Wilko Johnson Band and the Roger Daltrey Band. The opening performance on Monday 12th will be followed by a Q&A with the show's writer Jonathan Maitland and Dr Charlie Chan, the doctor whose correct diagnosis overturned Wilko's original prognosis, giving him nine more years of life than expected.

Simon Johnson said, “I remember Suggs saying “the great thing about Wilko is he just kept on going”. After Dr Feelgood's heyday, my dad persisted playing pubs and clubs, supporting a family on what is (not so affectionately) known as the 'toilet circuit'. He later returned to the bigger stages, attracting new audiences via Julien Temple's Oil City Confidential. This led to being cast in Game of Thrones. Then cancer thrust him into the spotlight as a stoic national treasure. Now, four years dead, a play about his life is going on tour. He just won't f**k off. It's pretty good.''

The Southend run also arrives at a fitting moment as 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Stupidity, Dr Feelgood's live album that topped the UK charts in October 1976 - the first live album ever to reach number one in its first week of release, and the band's only chart-topping recording. In 2013, NME named it one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Billy Bragg said, ”As a big fan of the Feelgoods and a local Essex lad, I'm very excited to be appearing as a special guest with the cast of 'Wilko' at the Palace Theatre in Southend. Wilko's unique rhythm/lead guitar dynamic was a huge influence on my own 'chop and clang' style of playing and to be performing his songs in sight of Canvey Island is a real honour.”

Dennis Greaves from Nine Below Zero said, “When I saw Dr Feelgood on the Old Grey Whistle Test on March 14, 1975 my life changed forever. The next day I formed a band. As big fans of Wilko and Dr Feelgood, it's a great honour for Mark Feltham and I to perform at Wilko's play in his hometown of Southend and to keep the legacy and influence of Dr Feelgood alive.”

Segs and Leigh from Ruts DC said, “Wilko was a brilliant, exciting original songwriter and musician who changed many lives. To see and to hear him play was an experience unlike any other. Words like 'legend', 'genius' and 'hero' are overused but Wilko was all these and more. It's an absolute honour to be a small part of this wonderful play.”

A figure of immense influence in the rock world and beyond, Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal diagnosis in 2012 with the expectation of just one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, he chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life… only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely. Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood and Ian Dury and the Blockheads, to a late-career turn to acting in Game of Thrones. The production integrates live music and storytelling with the legend's own words, serving as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest.

Wilko Johnson, born in Canvey Island, co-founded the legendary band Dr. Feelgood in 1971. Known for his electrifying stage presence and distinctive, machine-gun guitar style, Wilko and the band are widely regarded as the Godfathers of punk rock and have influenced generations of musicians. Wilko also acted occasionally, including in hit show Game of Thrones. 2025 also marked the 50th anniversary of the band's groundbreaking debut album Down by the Jetty which has been hailed as a major influence by rock legends including Paul Weller, Bob Geldof , and the Ramones. Other iconic artists - such as John Lydon of the Sex Pistols, Suggs from Madness, and members of Echo and the Bunnymen - have also credited the band with shaping their sound. As part of the 2025 run of the show, a C2C train was christened The Wilko Express in Wilko's honour and now runs from Southend to London.

Writer Jonathan Maitland said, “Wilko's is one of the greatest rock 'n' roll stories ever told and his songs are some of the greatest rock 'n' roll ever recorded. Even so, when I first read the play to him at his home in Southend five years ago, none of us could have imagined how much his story would go on to connect with audiences. My only regret is that he's not around to see this tour happen but I know, for sure, that he would have been absolutely thrilled.”

Jonathan Maitland is a playwright and former journalist having worked for the BBC across Radio 4, BBC News and presenting and producing shows for BBC 1. Maitland's debut stage play Dead Sheep (2015) produced at Park Theatre became the most successful production in the theatre's history. This record was broken by his second play also staged at Park Theatre An Audience With Jimmy Saville (2015), which went on to transfer to Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Further works at Park Theatre include Deny Deny Deny (2016) and the box office record breaking The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson (2019) which went on to complete an eight-week national tour in 2020. Most recently, Maitland presented the premiere of his new play The Interview at Park Theatre and his BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Wasps in a Jam Jar in 2023.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/Billy-Bragg-and-More-Amongst-Guest-Stars-For-WILKO-LOVE-AND-DEATH-AND-ROCK-N-ROLL-in-Essex-20260916)._