Irish singer and songwriter Shane MacGowan has died aged 65.
Shane MacGowan is dead. The legendary frontman of The Pogues died on November 30, 2023 at the age of 65. His wife Victoria Mary Clarke confirmed his death in an official statement.
“I don’t know how to say it, so I’ll just say it. Shane, who will always be the light that I have before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and the most beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the beginning and the end of everything I hold dear went to Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese,” writes Clarke.
“I am blessed beyond measure to have met him and loved him and been loved by him so infinitely and unconditionally and so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures to have experienced. There is no way to describe the loss I feel and the longing for just one more of his smiles to light up my world. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for your presence in this world, you have made it so bright and you have brought so much joy to so many people with your heart, soul and music. 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,” the statement continues.
MacGowan was released from hospital just a few days ago after being treated there for five months for a potentially life-threatening and long-term illness of encephalitis. The musician had been struggling with health problems for a long time, which were probably also due to his excessive lifestyle and decades of alcohol abuse. Since 2015, MacGowan has also been in a wheelchair – the result of a broken pelvis.
MacGowan rose to fame in the 1980s with The Pogues, where he combined Irish folk, punk rock and poetry. His biggest hit is the Christmas classic “Fairytale Of New York”, on which MacGowan sang in a duet with Kirsty MacColl. He is considered one of the great lyricists in rock music, which is impressively demonstrated by albums like “Rum, Sodomy & The Lash” and “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”.