Shane MacGowan, who was best known as the lead singer and songwriter for rock band The Pogues has died. The Fairytale of New York singer was 65 years old.
Shane MacGowan, who had a huge Christmas hit with his band, Fairytale of New York, has died after a prolonged illness at the age of 65, his wife Victoria has said.
Shane MacGowan dies at 65
The music star has been in and out of hospital due to illnesses, including viral encephalitis, which he was hospitalized with last December. He then spent what is believed to be several months in intensive care during the summer this year.
During his fame with The Pogues, they released Fairytale of New York in 1987. It has since become a Christmas classic and fan favorite. It has been rated the best Christmas song for the past three years in a poll by Gold Radio listeners in the UK. The song featured Kirsty MacColl who died tragically in 2000.
In 2011, it was claimed that it was the most-played Christmas hit of the 21st century, and yet the single has never been number one in the UK. It was kept off the top of the charts by Pet Shop Boys’ cover of Elvis’ Always on My Mind upon its original release in 1987 and was stuck at the number two spot.
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Losing the ‘love of my life’
His wife, Victoria, 57, called him the “love of my life.”
Sharing a black and white photo of Shane to her Instagram, she penned: “I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it. Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love [red heart emoji] of my life, and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.
“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 [red heart emoji] and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.”
She continued by thanking the late celebrity for his “presence” in her life.
Victoria added: “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for your presence in this world, you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music. You will live in my heart forever.
“Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much [red heart emojis] You meant the world to me.”
Fans pay tribute to Shane MacGowan
People have rushed to X, formerly Twitter, to pay tribute to the star.
I am so sad to hear that Shane MacGowan has died.
Please listen to the albums Rum, Sodomy, And The Lash and If I should Fall From Grace With God. He was a brilliant, colourful & touching poet. A pioneer of Irish folk/ punk. One of a kind 💚 pic.twitter.com/ffsEZfuGm8
— Jordan Tyldesley (@PippyBing) November 30, 2023View Tweet
Another person penned: “RIP Shane MacGowan, very sad news. Memories of seeing The Pogues in their pomp in the mid-80s at Glasgow Barrowlands for one mental gig. Flipside, seeing them with Kirsty [MacColl] in Leeds where he could hardly stand up or sing and Kirsty arguing with him. A legend on many levels [red heart emoji].”
Someone else said: “As Springsteen says we’ll be listening to Shane’s songs in 200 years time. Farewell legend, authentic Irish soul singer. #shanemacgowan [Irish flag and crying face emoji].”
Shane’s MacGowan health battle took a toll on his loved ones
Victoria had previously written about the pain and hurt seeing her husband in ill health had on her, despite keeping much of his woes private.
She wrote: “Love is the most beautiful and powerful thing that we can experience as humans, but love can also feel painful especially if you are afraid of losing a person or anything else that you love. The really, really big challenge that we all face is to go beyond what our minds think are the limits of love and what love really is.
“A lot of the time that thing we call love can more accurately be described as attachment or desire or need or longing or closeness or connection. And all of these are totally valuable and human and we need to acknowledge and appreciate and accept every part of our experience.
“You can’t imagine life without this person that you love.”
She concluded: “It’s in these moments when you are staring into the abyss that you have an opportunity to expand your consciousness beyond the limitations of your mind. You have an opportunity to discover more of who you really are and more of who your soul really is and more of your connection with this person who you love.”
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