21 October 2016
VVN Music
Wilko Johnson and Suzi Quatro have received honorary doctorates from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England.
The honours were bestowed on Wednesday with Johnson receiving a Doctor of Arts and Quatro getting a Doctor of Music.
A total of fourteen honorary degrees were given during the ceremony. Johnson received his as a “treasured East Anglian” citing his band Dr. Feelgood as being at “the vanguard of the British pub rock movement, and Wilko’s innovative style and stage presence were the driving force behind the band’s early success.”
Quatro received her honorary degree after working with the university. “Anglia Ruskin has enjoyed links with Suzi for some time, and she has expressed an interest in collaborating on a number of projects, specifically the Popular Music undergraduate degree course, and the University’s ongoing work in Music Therapy.”
Wilko Johnson was a co-founder of Dr. Feelgood, also playing with the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and his own Wilko Johnson Band. In January 2013, he was told he had inoperable cancer with only nine to ten months to live. He still forged forward with his career, touring and recording the album Going Back Home with Roger Daltrey. In April 2014, he underwent a new radical surgery which removed the cancer from his body.
Although American born, Suzi Quatro has always had greater success overseas. She had five top ten hits in the U.K. and seven in Australia including three number 1’s (Can the Can, 48 Crash, Devil Gate Drive). In her home country, she only made the top 40 once with Stumblin’ In (with Chris Norman, 1978 / #4) although she is remembered for playing Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days.
