Born in Kent on Christmas Day in 1957, Shane MacGowan will forever be associated with the festive period thanks to The Pogues’ 1987 hit, Fairytale Of New York, featuring the late Kirsty MacColl.
Musician and singer Shane MacGowan, best known as the frontman of The Pogues, has died at the age of 65.
His wife Victoria Mary Clarke shared the news in a post on Instagram, saying: “Shane will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life.”
MacGowan had suffered from several health issues in recent years and was treated in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin for an infection earlier this month. He was released from hospital last week ahead of his upcoming birthday on Christmas Day, with his former bandmates Spider Stacy and Terry Woods among those who visisted him.
Latest updates: Wife leads tributes to ‘the most beautiful soul’
He died peacefully this morning, Clarke said, with family by his side.
She said in her tribute: “I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.
“There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world,” Clarke said in her tribute. “You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much. You meant the world to me.”
Shane MacGowan obituary: A wild life and a raw talent
Born in Kent on 25 December 1957, the Irish star will forever be associated with the festive period thanks to The Pogues’ 1987 hit, Fairytale Of New York, featuring the late Kirsty MacColl.
Throughout the 1980s and early ’90s, the trailblazing band also had hits including Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, A Pair Of Brown Eyes and A Rainy Night In Soho.
MacGowan was a punk rebel, almost as famous for his drinking and drug taking – and for the toll it took on his teeth – as he was for his music.
But he was a gifted storyteller from a young age, winning a Daily Mirror literary prize when he was 13, and a scholarship to Westminster School for his essays.
“I didn’t last there very long,” he told the Guardian in a 2013 interview. “I got nicked for smoking a joint and was kicked out.”
He had been unwell in recent years, receiving treatment in hospital for encephalitis in December 2022, and spending time in intensive care in the summer.
MacGowan had also used a wheelchair since 2015 following several falls, breaking his pelvis and then his right knee.
The singer married Clarke, at a ceremony in Copenhagen in 2018, with his friend Johnny Depp playing guitar at their wedding.
Writing for the Irish Independent ahead of their nuptials, about the first time she met MacGowan at the age of 16, Clarke said she was “awe-struck”, before going on to detail a complicated relationship that “makes the Fairytale Of New York couple from Shane’s Christmas song seem tame and orderly”.
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald was among those paying tribute, describing MacGowan as “a poet, a dreamer and a champion of social justice” and saying Ireland had lost “one of its most beloved icons and the world one of its greatest songwriters”.
She continued: “Nobody told the Irish story like Shane – stories of emigration, heartache, dislocation, redemption, love and joy.
“Shane brought his musical unique style to all corners of the world, and his music will continue to be enjoyed for generations to come.
“Today we mourn his passing. He was one of the best of us. Ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann.”
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
