Shane MacGowan, ‘Fairytale of New York’ Singer and Pogues Frontman, Dead at 65

Shane MacGowan has died at the age of 65, his wife and longtime partner Victoria Mary Clarke announced in a touching Instagram post on Thursday.

The Irish singer-songwriter — best known as the frontman for The Pogues, the band behind the holiday favorite “Fairytale of New York” — was recently hospitalized after being diagnosed with encephalitis.

In her post, MacGowan’s widow remembered her late husband as someone “who will always be the light I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and a beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the beginning and the end of everything I hold dear ”

“I don’t know how to say it so I’ll just say it,” Clarke said. Shane… has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Theresa.”

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She went on to say that she was “blessed beyond words” to have met MacGoawn “and to have loved him and he loved her so endlessly and unconditionally and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.”

Victoria May Clarke and Shane MacGowan.

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“There is no way to describe the loss I feel and the longing for just one more of his smile that lit up my world,” Clarke wrote. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you for being present in this world you managed to be so bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music. You will live forever in my heart.”

“Ravej in the garden all wet from the rain you loved so much”, she concluded her message. “You meant everything to me.”

Clarke, 57, has been by MacGowan’s side for more than three decades, although they only married in 2018. In recent months, the Irish journalist shared news of her husband’s deteriorating health. In December 2022, he was diagnosed with encephalitis, an uncommon and potentially life-threatening condition that causes swelling of the brain. Sky News.

Back in November, Clarke asked fans for their “love and prayers” for her husband as he battled his condition in intensive care in hospital. Just days before, she shared another heartbreaking update via Instagram.

She posted: “Love ❤️ is the most beautiful and powerful thing we can experience as humans, but love can also be painful, especially if you fear losing the person or anything else you love.”

MacGowan performs in 2016.

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Since 2015, MacGowan has been in a wheelchair after breaking his pelvis in a fall, according to the British newspaper The Independent. The star struggled with drug and alcohol addictions for years, but in 2016 his wife claimed he was sober “for the first time in years,” according to the newspaper. Clarke said he got sober after contracting pneumonia, which required a “complete detox.”

Born in December 1957 to Irish immigrant parents in England, MacGowan spent his childhood summers in County Tipperary, Ireland, Rolling stone. According to the publication, he was a “naughty child with a precocious intellect.” He won a scholarship to the prestigious Westminster School in London, per outlet, but he was expelled for dealing drugs to fellow students.

Before joining The Pogues in 1982 alongside Spider Stacy, James Fearnley, Andrew Ranken, Cait O’Riordan and Jem Finer, he performed under the alias Shane O’Hooligan and was a fixture of the London punk scene.

Shane MacGowan, 2001.

Suzie Gibbons/Redferns

Formed in 1987 with fellow Irish singer Kirsty MacColl, The Pogues’ biggest and longest-running hit was “Fairytale of New York,” which is still a holiday party staple. The song appeared on the band’s album If I should fall from God’s grace, which they followed with two more LPs.

However, due to his unreliability and ongoing substance problems, MacGowan was fired from the Pogues in 1991.. They broke up in 1996 before getting back together in 2001, but finally called it quits in 2015, as MacGowan claimed in an interview with Vice that his relationships with his bandmates were better when they weren’t working together.

Victoria May Clarke and Shane MacGowan.

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MacGowan told the publication: “I don’t hate the band at all – they’re friends. I really like them. We were friends for years before we joined the band. We just got a little disgusted with each other.”

He continued: “We’re friends until we go on tour together. I’ve had a heck of a lot of touring. I’ve had enough of that.”

Despite his flaws, MacGowan was recognized by Bruce Springsteen as a “master”. During an appearance in Ireland 2020 The late late show, he said, “He’s a man, you know? I truly believe that 100 years from now, most of us will be forgotten. But I believe Shane’s music will be remembered and sung. It’s just deep in nature. He is a master for me. I deeply, deeply appreciate his work and the work he did with The Pogues”

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