Pitchfork

Television host, Factory records founder, band manager, and onetime Hacienda owner Anthony "Tony" Wilson-- a man instrumental in introducing the world to Joy Division, the Happy Mondays, A Certain Ratio, and other highly-regarded Manchester acts-- has been diagnosed with cancer, according to BBC and Manchester Evening News reports.

Wilson, famously portrayed by Steve Coogan in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, will soon undergo chemotherapy treatment at Christie Hospital in Manchester. As he revealed to the BBC, "I wasn't too upset when I was told the news. I just think you have to go with it and I see it as another step in life's adventure."

Doctors originally thought the cancer had infected Wilson's right lung, but soon found it had "completely consumed" his right kidney, which was removed during emergency surgery last month.

Wilson, father of two, wrote about his cancer experience-- and drafted a tribute to the health workers who have helped him-- exclusively for the Evening News. "Lying in bed after my 'radical nephrectomy', he wrote, "I found myself humming that old Leonard Cohen classic, 'The Sisters of Mercy'...before [Cohen] plays Manchester on this year's world tour I will try to get him to dedicate it to the wonderful people who looked after me so well." Read the rest of Tony's words here.

The 56-year-old Wilson jumpstarted the fourth incarnation of Factory Records, F4, in January 2005. He has kept a fairly high profile in recent years, appearing on panels and chairing special events.