The Wilko Johnson band was started by Wilko Johnson, a founding member and initial guitarist of the pub rock band Dr. Feelgood, in 1977, first performing at the Front Row Festival at the Hope and Anchor pub in London. In the following years, two songs performed by the band appeared on the "Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival" live album. During the 1980s, the band toured and performed regularly, releasing a combination of six studio albums, EPs, and live albums during that decade. After dropping the studio album "Barbed Wire Blues" in 1988, the Wilko Johnson Band waited ten years before releasing a new album. In 1998, the band released "Going Back Home" with a live album from Japan following in 2000. Two more studio albums followed in the 2000 and 2010s: "Red Hot Rocking Blues" (2005) and "Blow Your Mind" (2018). On November 21, 2022, Wilko Johnson passed away, causing the dissolution of The Wilko Johnson Band.