The death of Shane MacGowan, the legendary lead singer of Irish band The Pogues, was announced yesterday (November 30), with his cause of death now being revealed.
The frontman’s death was confirmed by his wife, after the star suffered years of health issues. In a statement, Shane’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke said: “Shane will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life.”
Shane was aged just 65. The couple married in 2018 after 32-year long relationship and 11-year engagement.
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Victoria’s statement
Victoria said: “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 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 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. 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.
“You meant the world to me.”
Earlier today (December 1), the New York Times reported that Victoria had confirmed that Shane died from pneumonia.
Shane MacGowan death: Final moments
A statement on The Pogues’ social media account revealed that Shane had died “peacefully” at 3am with his wife and family “by his side”.
“Prayers and the last rites were read which gave comfort to his family,” the statement revealed.
Shane had been receiving treatment for viral encephalitis – a condition which leads to brain swelling. He was sent home from hospital last week.
Victoria said: “Shane got out of the hospital! We are deeply and eternally grateful to all of the doctors and nurses and staff at St Vincent’s it’s the best!”
She then shared a snap of Shane wearing a hat and scarf and beaming from ear to ear. It would be the final picture shared of the singer.
The life of Shane MacGowan
Born December 25, 1957, Shane was the son of Irish immigrants living in Kent. The family would move between Ireland and England during his childhood.
He has one younger sister, Siobhan, who is a journalist.
In 1971, he was accepted to the prestigious Westminster School, though was later expelled for drug possession. Shortly after he began to be known in the London punk scene of the era.
After going through a number of bands, Shane found fame as the lead singer of The Pogues, fusing traditional Irish music with a punk style, with many of the songs created by the group focusing on Irish history and nationalism, and his disdain for the British government.
In a recent Instagram, post, he spoke of his music and literary influences, and said: “I wanted to make time irrelevant, to make generations and decades irrelevant, I wanted to make pure music that could be from any time. I wanted not to insult people’s intelligence and not to pretend to be intellectual.”
In 1987, the band released their international hit, Fairytale of New York, which chronicled the breakdown of a troubled relationship over the Christmas period. Shane was joined by the late Kirsty MacColl on lead vocals, where she played his disgruntled other half.
The song remains a Christmas staple, and is played across the world every year. Despite its popularity, it has never made it to Christmas Number One, being beaten that year by Pet Shop Boys’ Always On My Mind.
Illness sin later life
In 1992, he was kicked out of the band for “unprofessional behaviour”. They would later reform in 2001 for a series of tours and he became a permanent member again in 2005.
In the meantime, Shane MacGowan and The Popes was created. He also worked on his own music, and made appearances with other groups. In 1997, he was a lead vocalist on Children in Need single, Perfect Day, with Lou Reed.
In 2015, Shane broke his pelvis after falling outside of a music studio. He has been in a wheelchair ever since.
‘A Drink With Shane MacGowan’
Shane’s addiction to alcohol and heroin is well documented. He often gave interviews drunk, or while drinking, and his songs often revolved around drinking or nights out.
A Drink With Shane MacGowan, a book he authored with Victoria, was released in 2001. It discussed at length his addiction and mental health while touring.
‘Grateful’
That same year, Sinead O’Connor reported Shane to London police for heroin possession. While initially angry, it resulted in him seeking help and maintaining a level of sobriety.
In a later interview with LiveWire, he said: “I’m not recommending to people that they should rat their friends out to the police, you know what I mean? At the time I was furious, obviously, but I’m actually very grateful to her now.”<
He would later return to drinking. However, in 2016, Victoria said Shane was sober ‘for the first time in years’ as a result of spending months in a hospital recovering from his pelvis injury.
Shane has been a singer all his life, singing in bars and clubs and other venues where people go to drink and have fun. If anyone is not drinking, it is unusual in these places,” she wrote in the Independent.
“So the drinking has not just been a recreational activity, his whole career has revolved around it and, indeed, been both enhanced and simultaneously inhibited by it.”
Read more: Brookside star Dean Sullivan dies aged 68
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