Shane MacGowan, the legendary hard-drinking lead singer of Irish punk-folk band the Pogues, died early Thursday, his family announced online. He is 65 years old.
The “Fairytale of New York” songwriter died at 3 a.m. with his wife and family by his side, his band announced online.
“I don’t know how to say this so I’ll just say it,” his wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, also wrote on Instagram.
“‘There is no way to describe the loss I feel and the longing for just one more of her smiles to light up my world,” she said of “the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel.”
The cause of death was not clear Thursday, but MacGowan – known for his drinking and drug use and his mouth full of rotten teeth – had suffered from numerous health problems recently.
Shane MacGowan died at 3am with his wife and family by his side, his band announced online. Getty Images Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan team up in “Fairytale of New York.” Getty Images
He received treatment in December 2022 for viral encephalitis — an enlargement of the brain — and spent more time in the Intensive Care Unit over the summer.
MacGowan, who has been in a wheelchair since 2015, returned to hospital earlier this month due to an unknown condition. He was just discharged last week.
Born in Kent, England on Christmas Day 1957, MacGowan showed his talent for storytelling from an early age.
Shane MacGowan is seen here on Oct. 11. 2022. GC Images Members of the Pogues, 11/30/84. Pictured are Shane MacGowan, Cait O’Riordan, Andrew Rankin, Jem Finer, Spider Stacy, and James Fearnley. Getty Images The Pogues were photographed together in 1986. / Retna Ltd.
He won the Daily Mirror literary prize when he was 13 and got a scholarship to Westminster School in London for his essays.
“I didn’t last long there,” MacGowan told the Guardian in 2013. “I was bitten for smoking and kicked out.”
With his music, MacGowan strives to bring the power of Irish folk music to the rock scene as he draws from literature, mythology and the Bible.
“We just wanted to shove music that was rootsy and generally louder and had more real anger and emotion, down the throats of a really pop-oriented pop audience,” he told NME in 1983 when the band first hit the ground running.
He writes regularly about Irish culture and nationalism, as well as the Irish diaspora experience — including his support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
“I’m ashamed I didn’t have the courage to join the IRA — and the Pogues were my way of coping,” MacGowan admitted in Julien Temple’s 2020 documentary “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan.”
MacGowan is celebrated by many of his peers as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation. But he’s also known for his strong drinking, often causing him to stumble and slur his words at shows.
He was eventually fired from the group he helped form in 1991 after failing to show up for a live show during a tour of Japan.
“In the end, I hated every second of it,” he told The Telegraph in 1997
“They have moved so far from what we did in the beginning. I don’t like what we play anymore.
“I refuse to budge and become a professional.”
In 2000, Sinead O’Connor reported MacGowan to the police for possession of heroin, hoping to stop her from using.
Despite his initial anger, MacGowan would express his gratitude to O’Connor in later years for helping him get off drugs.
He then rejoined The Pogues for a reunion in 2001, which lasted until 2014.
For his work, MacGowan earned the Ivor Novello songwriting inspiration award in 2018, following five Pogues albums and solo releases.
MacGowan is survived by his wife Clarke, whom he married in 2018; his sister, Siobhan; and his father, Maurice.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
