‘Cured’ Wilko and Kasabian triumph at the Q Awards

The Dr Feelgood star picked up the icon award at the Q Awards in Grosvenor House hotel in London and said he hoped to be playing gigs again soon.

Johnson, who has recorded a new album with The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, said he had played a string of farewell dates after first being told in 2012 that he had “inoperable” cancer and “10 months to live”.

He told the audience at the music industry bash he had met a doctor who was “getting curious as to why I’m not dead” who referred him to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

He said: “It was an 11-hour operation and they took this tumour out of me, this tumour weighed three kilos, that’s the size of a baby.”

Meanwhile, Kasabian were two-time winners at the Q Awards where they were hailed as “best act in the world”.

The ceremony also recognised the efforts of independent record label, XL Recordings, which helped steer Adele to worldwide fame.

Its boss, Richard Russell, picked up the award for outstanding contribution to music at the event.