Shane MacGowan

{{Infobox person

| image = Shane-MacGowan.jpg

| caption = MacGowan at the WOMAD festival, Yokohama,{{nbsp}}1991

| birth_name = Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1957|12|25}}

| birth_place = Pembury, Kent, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2023|11|30|1957|12|25}}

| death_place = Dublin, Ireland

| citizenship = {{hlist|United Kingdom|Ireland}}

| other_names = Shane O'Hooligan

| occupation = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|musician}}

| years_active = 1977–2023

| relatives = Siobhan MacGowan (sister)

| spouse = {{marriage|Victoria Mary Clarke|2018}}

| website = {{URL|ShaneMacGowan.com}}

| module = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes

| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar|piano||bodhran|banjo}}

| genre = {{hlist|Celtic punk|Celtic rock|folk punk|folk rock}}

| past_member_of = {{hlist|The Pogues|Shane MacGowan and The Popes|The Nipple Erectors|The Shane Gang}}

}}

Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 1957{{snd}}30 November 2023) was a British-born Irish{{efn|name=nationality}} singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He won acclaim for his lyrics, which often focused on the Irish emigrant experience; he also received widespread media attention for his lifestyle, which included decades of heavy alcohol and drug abuse. A New York Times obituary noted his "twin reputations as a titanically destructive personality and a master songsmith whose lyrics painted vivid portraits of the underbelly of Irish immigrant life."{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Matt |date=2023-11-30 |title=Shane MacGowan, Songwriter Who Fused Punk and Irish Rebellion, Is Dead at 65 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/arts/music/shane-macgowan-dead.html |access-date=2025-02-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Born in Kent, England, to Irish parents, MacGowan spent his early childhood in Tipperary, Ireland, before moving back to England with his family at age six. After attending Holmewood House preparatory school, he won a literary scholarship to Westminster School but was expelled in his second year for drug offences. At age 17 to 18, he spent six months in psychiatric care at Bethlem Royal Hospital due to his drug and alcohol abuse. He became active on the London punk scene under the alias Shane O'Hooligan, attending gigs, working in the Rocks Off record shop, and writing a punk fanzine. In 1977, he and his then-girlfriend Shanne Bradley formed the punk band the Nipple Erectors (subsequently the Nips). In 1982, with Spider Stacy and Jem Finer, he co-founded the Pogues—originally called Pogue Mahone, an anglicisation of the Irish phrase {{lang|ga|póg mo thóin}}, meaning "kiss my arse"—who fused punk influences with traditional Irish music. He was the principal songwriter and lead vocalist on the band's first five studio albums, including Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985) and the critically acclaimed and commercially successful If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988). With Finer, he co-wrote the Christmas hit single "Fairytale of New York" (1987), which he recorded as a duet with Kirsty MacColl. A perennial Christmas favourite in Ireland and the UK, the song was certified sextuple platinum in the UK in 2023.

During a 1991 tour of Japan, the Pogues dismissed MacGowan due to the impact of his drug and alcohol dependency on their live shows. He formed a new band, Shane MacGowan and The Popes, with which he released two further studio albums, including the singles "The Church of the Holy Spook" (1994) and "That Woman's Got Me Drinking" (featuring Johnny Depp, 1994). His solo projects after leaving the Pogues included the singles "What a Wonderful World" (a duet with Nick Cave, 1992), "Haunted" (a duet with Sinéad O'Connor, 1995) and "My Way" (1996); he also collaborated with artists including the Jesus and Mary Chain, Dropkick Murphys and Cruachan. In 2001, he rejoined the Pogues for reunion shows and continued to tour with the group until it dissolved in 2014. At a January 2018 gala concert to celebrate MacGowan's 60th birthday, the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, presented him with a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to Irish life, music and culture. Later that year, he married his long-term partner, journalist and writer Victoria Mary Clarke. Following years of deteriorating health, he died from pneumonia in Dublin in November 2023, aged 65.

Early life

MacGowan was born on 25 December 1957 in Pembury, Kent,{{cite web |last=MacGowan |first=Siobhan |url=http://shanemacgowan.com/about/ |title=Shane MacGowan: About |publisher=shanemacgowan.com |year=2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212033338/http://shanemacgowan.com/about/ |archive-date=12 February 2020 |quote=He was born on Christmas Day 1957 in Pembury, Kent}}{{Cite news |date=30 November 2023 |title=Fairytale of New York: Shane MacGowan, music and excess' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20125315 |access-date=4 December 2023 |archive-date=3 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203162501/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20125315 |url-status=live }} the son of Irish parents who were visiting relatives in England at the time of his birth. MacGowan spent his early childhood in Tipperary, Ireland.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishpost.com/news/the-pogues-controversially-branded-english-rather-than-irish-on-wikipedia-189680|title=The Pogues controversially branded English rather than Irish on Wikipedia|last=Beresford|first=Jack|work=Irish Post|date=22 July 2020|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=7 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107005916/https://www.irishpost.com/news/the-pogues-controversially-branded-english-rather-than-irish-on-wikipedia-189680|url-status=live}} His younger sister, Siobhan MacGowan, was born in 1963; she later became a journalist, writer, and songwriter. MacGowan and his family moved to England when he was aged six and a half. His father, Maurice, from a middle-class background in Dublin, worked in the offices of department store C&A; his mother, Therese, from Tipperary, worked as a typist at a convent, having previously been a singer, traditional Irish dancer, and model.Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Music and Life, Joe Merrick, Omnibus Press, 2012 (originally printed 2001), pp. 5–6

MacGowan lived in many parts of southeast England such as Brighton, London, and the home counties, and attended an English public school. His father encouraged his precocious interest in literature; by age 11, MacGowan was reading authors including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, John Steinbeck, and James Joyce.{{Cite news |title=Shane MacGowan's boyhood: 'At 11 he was reading Dostoyevsky' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/shane-macgowan-s-boyhood-at-11-he-was-reading-dostoyevsky-1.4684674 |access-date=3 December 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times |archive-date=3 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203125624/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/shane-macgowan-s-boyhood-at-11-he-was-reading-dostoyevsky-1.4684674 |url-status=live }} At 13, he was among the winners of a literary contest sponsored by the Daily Mirror.{{Cite web |last=Mata |first=William |date=1 December 2023 |title=Shane MacGowan won national literary prize aged 13, recovered article shows |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/shane-macgowan-literary-prize-school-boy-the-pogues-b1124182.html |access-date=5 December 2023 |website=Evening Standard|location=London|archive-date=5 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205134022/https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/shane-macgowan-literary-prize-school-boy-the-pogues-b1124182.html |url-status=live }} In 1971, he left Holmewood House preparatory school in Langton Green, Kent, with a literature scholarship for Westminster School.{{cite news|first1=Gabriel|last1=Shepard|title=How Shane MacGowan came to be born in Tunbridge Wells|url=http://www.kentlive.news/news/how-shane-macgowan-came-born-973809|newspaper=KentLive|date=24 December 2017|access-date=14 January 2018|archive-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114183901/http://www.kentlive.news/news/how-shane-macgowan-came-born-973809|url-status=live}} Found in possession of drugs, he was expelled in his second year.{{cite news | first=Johny | last=Rogan | title=Rebel yell | date=26 September 1998 | url=http://www.shanemacgowan.com/articles/ipost98d.shtml | work=The Irish Post | access-date=13 February 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127142106/http://www.shanemacgowan.com/articles/ipost98d.shtml | archive-date=27 January 2007 }} At age 17, he spent six months in a psychiatric hospital due to drug addiction; while there, he was also diagnosed with acute situational anxiety.{{Cite news |last=Barber |first=Lynn |date=11 March 2001 |title=Shane MacGowan gets the drinks in|work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/11/biography.features2 |access-date=3 December 2023 |issn=0029-7712 |archive-date=3 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203165919/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/11/biography.features2 |url-status=live }} Briefly enrolled at St Martin's School of Art, he worked at the Rocks Off record shop in central London,{{Cite news |last=O'Hagan |first=Sean |date=14 January 2018 |title=Bruised, bloody but unbowed: the songs of Shane MacGowan will outlast us all|work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jan/14/shane-macgowan-60-musical-legacy-pogues |access-date=3 December 2023 |issn=0029-7712 |archive-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128124611/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jan/14/shane-macgowan-60-musical-legacy-pogues |url-status=live }} and started a punk fanzine under the pseudonym Shane O'Hooligan.{{Cite web |last1=Barker |first1=Andrew |last2=Shafer |first2=Ellise |date=30 November 2023 |title=Shane MacGowan, the Pogues Frontman and 'Fairytale of New York' Singer, Dies at 65 |url=https://variety.com/2023/music/global/shane-macgowan-dead-dies-the-pogues-frontman-fairytale-of-new-york-singer-1235814277/ |access-date=3 December 2023 |website=Variety|archive-date=3 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203165919/https://variety.com/2023/music/global/shane-macgowan-dead-dies-the-pogues-frontman-fairytale-of-new-york-singer-1235814277/ |url-status=live }} He was first publicly noted in 1976 at a concert by London punk rock band the Clash, where his earlobe was damaged by future Mo-dettes bassist Jane Crockford. A photographer took a picture of him covered in blood, which was reported in the music paper NME with the headline "Cannibalism at Clash Gig".{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/features/shane-macgowan-inside-julien-temples-new-documentary-2830129|title=Cartoons, cannibalism and The Clash: inside Julien Temple's new Shane MacGowan doc|website=NME|author=Perry, Kevin|date=2 December 2020|access-date=22 January 2024}}{{cite web |url=http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mroman/pics/cannibal2.jpg |title=Photograph : These people are cannibals! |work=Pages.cs.wisc.edu |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=5 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205115651/http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mroman/pics/cannibal2.jpg |url-status=live }}{{cite news | first=Michael | last=Dwyer | title=Mac the Mouth | date=2 August 1987 | url=http://www.shanemacgowan.com/articles/tribune87.shtml | work=The Sunday Tribune | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608153119/http://www.shanemacgowan.com/articles/tribune87.shtml | archive-date=8 June 2009 }}{{cite web |url=http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mroman/pics/cannibal1.jpg |title=Photograph : Saturday Night : The Clash are Playing |work=Pages.cs.wisc.edu |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001105133/http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mroman/pics/cannibal1.jpg |url-status=live }} Shortly after this, he and bassist Shanne Bradley formed the punk band the Nipple Erectors (later known as the Nips).{{Cite book |last=Clerk |first=Carol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ykHWqIjBw68C&q=The+Nipple+Erectors |title=Kiss My Arse: The Story of the Pogues |date=4 November 2009 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-019-9|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111253/https://books.google.com/books?id=ykHWqIjBw68C&q=The+Nipple+Erectors#v=snippet&q=The%20Nipple%20Erectors&f=false |url-status=live }}

Career

=1982–1991: Leading the Pogues=

MacGowan drew upon his Irish heritage when founding the Pogues and changed his early punk style for a more traditional sound with tutoring from his extended family. Many of his songs were influenced by Irish nationalism, Irish history, the experiences of the Irish diaspora (particularly in England and the United States), and London life in general. These influences were documented in the biography Rake at the Gates of Hell: Shane MacGowan in Context. He often cited the 19th-century Irish poet James Clarence Mangan and playwright Brendan Behan as influences.

The Pogues' most critically acclaimed album was If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988), which also marked the high point of the band's commercial success. Between 1985 and 1987, MacGowan co-wrote "Fairytale of New York", which he performed with Kirsty MacColl, and remains a perennial Christmas favourite; in 2004, 2005 and 2006, it was voted favourite Christmas song in a poll by music video channel VH1.{{cite news |date=15 December 2005 |title=Fairytale still the festive pick |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4533030.stm |access-date=4 December 2007 |archive-date=12 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212013634/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4533030.stm |url-status=live }} Other notable songs he performed with the Pogues include "Dirty Old Town", "Sally MacLennane" and "The Irish Rover" (featuring the Dubliners). In the following years MacGowan and the Pogues released several albums.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20125315 |title=Fairytale of New York: Shane MacGowan, music and excess' |work=BBC News |date=30 November 2023 |accessdate=30 November 2023 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130125459/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20125315 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Marko |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcnVLioLCNIC&dq=%22shanne+bradley%22&pg=PA54 |title=The Roxy London Wc2: A Punk History |date=2007 |publisher=The Roxy Club London:Punk |isbn=978-0-9556583-0-3 |page=54|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111230/https://books.google.com/books?id=rcnVLioLCNIC&dq=%22shanne+bradley%22&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q=%22shanne%20bradley%22&f=false |url-status=live }} In 1988, he co-wrote "Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six", a song by the Pogues which proved highly controversial due to its support of the Birmingham Six – six men wrongly convicted of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, but still serving prison sentences for the bombings at the time – and was banned on British commercial TV and radio.{{cite book|last=Fearnley|first=James|title=Here comes everybody: the story of the Pogues|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=2012|isbn=978-0-571-25397-5|page=326}}

In Yokohama, Japan, during a 1991 tour, the Pogues dismissed MacGowan for unprofessional behaviour.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kpcc.org/show/offramp/2012-03-13/the-pogues-james-fearnley-on-celtic-punk-firing-shane-macgowan-and-st-pats|title=The Pogues' James Fearnley on Celtic punk, firing Shane MacGowan, and St. Pat's|website=LAist – NPR News for Southern California – 89.3 FM|access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225545/https://www.kpcc.org/show/offramp/2012-03-13/the-pogues-james-fearnley-on-celtic-punk-firing-shane-macgowan-and-st-pats|url-status=live}} The band's performances had been affected by MacGowan's drug and alcohol problems, and his bandmates parted ways with him following "a string of no-shows, including when the Pogues were opening for Dylan".{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/shane-macgowan-pogues-dead-5b6f1f1becb575ceffca4ee01b3b12a6|title=Shane MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues and a laureate of booze and beauty, dies at age 65|date=30 November 2023|work=Associated Press News|access-date=2 December 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130230043/https://apnews.com/article/shane-macgowan-pogues-dead-5b6f1f1becb575ceffca4ee01b3b12a6|url-status=live}}

=1992–2005: Shane MacGowan and the Popes=

After MacGowan had been dismissed from the Pogues, he formed a new band, Shane MacGowan and The Popes. The new band recorded two studio albums, a live album, three tracks on the Popes Outlaw Heaven (2010) and a live DVD; the band also toured internationally. In 1997, MacGowan appeared on Lou Reed's "Perfect Day", covered by numerous artists in aid of Children in Need. It was the UK's number one single for three weeks, in two separate spells.{{Cite book |last=Betts |first=Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAo5AQAAIAAJ&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22perfect+day%22 |title=Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2006 |date=2006 |publisher=Collins |isbn=978-0-00-720077-1 |page=514|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111244/https://books.google.com/books?id=FAo5AQAAIAAJ&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22perfect+day%22 |url-status=live }} Selling over a million copies, the record contributed £2,125,000 to the charity's highest fundraising total in six years."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/191758.stm Perfect Day for children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316083836/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/191758.stm |date=16 March 2021 }}", BBC News'', 12 October 1998 From December 2003 up to May 2005, Shane MacGowan and the Popes toured extensively in the UK, Ireland and Europe.{{cite web |url=https://www.myspace.com/briankellybanjo |title=Brian Kelly | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos |work=Myspace.com |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=21 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221175608/https://myspace.com/briankellybanjo |url-status=live }}{{Primary source inline|date=May 2024}}

=2001–2014: Return to the Pogues=

File:Boy from the County Hell by Brian Whelan.jpg]]

The Pogues and MacGowan reformed for a sell-out tour in 2001 and each year from 2004 to 2009 for further tours, including headline slots at Guilfest in England and the Azkena Rock Festival in the Basque Country. In May 2005, MacGowan rejoined the Pogues permanently. That same year, the Pogues re-released "Fairytale of New York" to raise funds for the Justice For Kirsty Campaign and Crisis at Christmas. The single was the best-selling Christmas-themed single of 2005, reaching number 3 in the UK Charts that year.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/pogues-fairytale-of-new-york-why-uk-favorite-christmas-song-8547034/ |title=Why The Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' Remains the UK's Favorite Christmas Song |magazine=Billboard |date=24 December 2019 |accessdate=30 November 2023 |first=Richard |last=Smirke |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225532/https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/pogues-fairytale-of-new-york-why-uk-favorite-christmas-song-8547034/ |url-status=live }}

In 2006, he was seen many times with the Libertines and Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty;{{Cite book |last=Hannaford |first=Alex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxRJp9wKe60C&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+ |title=Pete Doherty: Last of the Rock Romantics |date=31 July 2011 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4464-4650-8 |page=234|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111229/https://books.google.com/books?id=TxRJp9wKe60C&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+#v=snippet&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22&f=false |url-status=live }} on occasions MacGowan joined Babyshambles on stage. Other famous friends included Johnny Depp, who appeared in the video for "That Woman's Got Me Drinking",{{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22johnny+depp%22&pg=PT190 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111222/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22johnny+depp%22&pg=PT190#v=onepage&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22%20%20%20%22johnny%20depp%22&f=false |url-status=live }} and Joe Strummer, who referred to MacGowan as "one of the best writers of the century" in an interview featured on the videogram release "Live at the Town and Country Club" from 1988. Strummer occasionally joined MacGowan and the Pogues on stage (and briefly replaced MacGowan as lead vocalist after his sacking from the band).{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/28/the-pogues-30-years-review|title=The Pogues: 30 Years – review|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|date=28 November 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162735/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/28/the-pogues-30-years-review|url-status=live}} He also worked with Nick Cave and joined him on stage.{{Cite book |last=Snow |first=Mat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yh9iDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22nick+cave%22&pg=PT228 |title=Nick Cave: Sinner Saint: The True Confessions |date=29 June 2015 |publisher=Plexus Publishing |isbn=978-0-85965-880-5|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111236/https://books.google.com/books?id=yh9iDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22nick+cave%22&pg=PT228#v=onepage&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22%20%20%20%22nick%20cave%22&f=false |url-status=live }}

File:Shane MacGowan 2008.jpg

About his future with the Pogues, in a 24 December 2015 interview with Vice magazine,{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-interview-with-shane-macgowan/ |title='I Don't Like Christmas, It's Gross': An Interview with Shane MacGowan (by Leonie Cooper) |date=24 December 2015 |website=Vice |access-date=5 March 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082212/http://www.vice.com/read/an-interview-with-shane-macgowan |url-status=live }} when the interviewer asked whether the band were still active, MacGowan said: "We're not, no", saying that, since their 2001 reunion happened, "I went back with [the] Pogues and we grew to hate each other all over again", adding: "I don't hate the band at all – they're friends. I like them a lot. We were friends for years before we joined the band. We just got a bit sick of each other. We're friends as long as we don't tour together. I've done a hell of a lot of touring. I've had enough of it."

=2010–2011: The Shane Gang=

In 2010, MacGowan played impromptu shows in Dublin with a new five-piece backing band, the Shane Gang, including In Tua Nua rhythm section Paul Byrne (drums) and Jack Dublin (bass), with manager Joey Cashman on whistle. In November 2010, this line-up went to Lanzarote to record a new album.Falkiner, Keith, "Shane's Sunny Delight"; The Irish Star, 21 November 2010{{cite web |url=http://shanemacgowan.is-great.org/HeGoes.html |title=Shane's Sunny Delight |work=Shanemacgowan.is-great.org |date=21 November 2010 |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=30 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730101423/http://shanemacgowan.is-great.org/HeGoes.html |url-status=live }} MacGowan and the Shane Gang performed at the Red Hand Rocks music festival in the Patrician Hall, Carrickmore County Tyrone in June 2011.{{cite web | url=http://www.pogues.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11477 | title=The Medusa Fora • View topic – Shane with the Shane Gang – shows in summer 2011 | access-date=13 April 2022 | archive-date=22 September 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922091824/http://www.pogues.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11477 | url-status=live }}

=2014–2023: Later career=

MacGowan made a return to the stage on 13 June 2019 at the RDS Arena in Dublin as a guest of Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders.{{Cite web|url=https://extra.ie/2019/06/14/entertainment/entertainment-news/shane-mcgowan-chrissie-hynde-rds|title=WATCH: Shane MacGowan's car crash duet with Pretenders star Chrissie Hynde|date=14 June 2019|website=Extra.ie|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=4 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204145034/https://extra.ie/2019/06/14/entertainment/entertainment-news/shane-mcgowan-chrissie-hynde-rds|url-status=live}}

Following on from the success of Feis Liverpool 2018's finale, in which he was joined by artists such as Imelda May, Paddy Moloney,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Q4IAQAAMAAJ&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22paddy+maloney%22 |title=Film Review |date=1996 |publisher=W.H. Allen |page=116|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111224/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Q4IAQAAMAAJ&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22paddy+maloney%22 |url-status=live }} Albert Hammond Jr and many more, MacGowan was announced to appear on 7 July alongside a host of guests for the Feis Liverpool 2019's finale. The event was ultimately cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales and funding issues. Feis Liverpool is the UK's largest celebration of Irish music and culture.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishpost.com/news/feis-liverpool-2019-cancelled-disappointment-uks-biggest-celebration-irish-music-axed-167477|title=Feis Liverpool 2019 cancelled: Disappointment as UK's biggest celebration of Irish music axed|first=Aidan|last=Lonergan|newspaper=The Irish Post|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807205811/https://www.irishpost.com/news/feis-liverpool-2019-cancelled-disappointment-uks-biggest-celebration-irish-music-axed-167477|url-status=live}}

In 2020, MacGowan reportedly returned to the studio to record several new songs with the Irish indie band Cronin.{{cite web|title=Shane MacGowan to record new music as he embarks on comeback|date=13 March 2020|last=Costello|first=Emma|website=Extra.ie|url=https://extra.ie/2020/03/13/entertainment/entertainment-news/shane-macgowan-music-comeback|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=22 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622220204/https://extra.ie/2020/03/13/entertainment/entertainment-news/shane-macgowan-music-comeback|url-status=live}}

=Media and charity work=

MacGowan appeared in an episode of Fair City, shown on 28 December 2008.{{cite web |url=https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/image/4163/041.html |title=RTÉ Archives |date=5 July 2012 |publisher=Stills Library |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=21 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221175753/https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/image/4163/041.html |url-status=live }} In 2009, he starred in the RTÉ reality show Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own, as he and his future wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, endeavoured to grow their food in their own garden.{{Cite news |date=16 December 2009 |title=Shane features in show filmed locally |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/louth/dundalk-news/shane-features-in-show-filmed-locally/26939675.html |access-date=30 November 2023 |newspaper=Drogheda Independent|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225524/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/louth/dundalk-news/shane-features-in-show-filmed-locally/26939675.html |url-status=live }}

In 2010, MacGowan offered a piece of unusual art to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) to auction off to support their services to children: a drawing on a living room door.{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/arts/shane-opens-door-for-drawing-to-go--under-the-hammer-2454091.html|title=Shane opens door for drawing to go under the hammer|date=29 November 2012|work=Irish Independent|access-date=19 April 2014|archive-date=12 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212074706/http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/arts/shane-opens-door-for-drawing-to-go--under-the-hammer-2454091.html|url-status=live}} It earned €1,602 for the charity.{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISPCC-Childline/109912082370456#!/pages/ISPCC-Childline/109912082370456?v=wall|title=ISPCC Childline|via=Facebook|access-date=19 April 2014|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111658/https://www.facebook.com/ISPCCChildline/#!/pages/ISPCC-Childline/109912082370456?v=wall|url-status=live}}{{Primary source inline|date=May 2024}}

Personal life

File:Shane.macgowan.moscow.jpg

On 26 November 2018, after a decades-long relationship and subsequent 11-year engagement, MacGowan married Irish journalist Victoria Mary Clarke in Copenhagen. They lived in Dublin.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/shane-macgowan-and-victoria-mary-clarke-tie-the-knot-in-copenhagen-887948.html|title=Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke tie the knot in Copenhagen|date=26 November 2018|work=Irish Examiner|access-date=28 November 2018|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127151956/https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/shane-macgowan-and-victoria-mary-clarke-tie-the-knot-in-copenhagen-887948.html|url-status=live}} MacGowan was a Roman Catholic, calling himself "a free-thinking religious fanatic" who also prayed to the Buddha. As an adolescent, he considered the priesthood.{{cite web |last1=Hennessy |first1=Matthew |title=God's Lucky Man |url=https://www.city-journal.org/html/god%E2%80%99s-lucky-man-9806.html |website=City Journal |access-date=28 August 2021 |date=14 March 2014 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922205047/https://www.city-journal.org/html/god%E2%80%99s-lucky-man-9806.html |url-status=live }}

=Politics=

In 2015, MacGowan stated that he had grown up in an Irish republican family and that he regretted not joining the IRA. In a filmed interview he said, "I was ashamed I didn't have the guts to join the IRA, and the Pogues was my way of overcoming that".{{cite news|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/shane-macgowan-wished-he-had-joined-the-ira|title=Shane Macgowan wished he had joined the IRA|last=Bramhill|first=Nick|publisher=Irish Central|date=15 June 2015|access-date=8 December 2022|quote="his Irish parents' republican background and the alienation and resentment he experienced growing up in London in the 60s and 70s filled him with hatred towards his adopted country ... 'I always felt guilty because I didn't lay down my life for Ireland' ..."|archive-date=7 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207205547/https://www.irishcentral.com/news/shane-macgowan-wished-he-had-joined-the-ira|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Rachael |title=The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan 'felt guilty for not joining the IRA', new documentary reveals |url=https://www.irishpost.com/news/the-pogues-frontman-shane-macgowan-felt-guilty-for-not-joining-the-ira-new-documentary-reveals-199375 |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=The Irish Post |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225530/https://www.irishpost.com/news/the-pogues-frontman-shane-macgowan-felt-guilty-for-not-joining-the-ira-new-documentary-reveals-199375 |url-status=live }} The central figure in his 1997 song "Paddy Public Enemy No. 1" is based on ex-INLA leader Dominic McGlinchey. Asked his opinion of McGlinchey, MacGowan said "he was a great man".{{cite book|last=Bailie|first=S.|title=Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland|year=2018|publisher=Bloomfield|location=Belfast|isbn=978-1-52722-047-8|page=203}} He also counted former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams as a friend, according to his most recent biography.{{Cite news |date=9 January 2022 |title=Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan 'obsessed with The Troubles'|work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/entertainment/pogues-frontman-shane-macgowan-obsessed-with-the-troubles/41222118.html |access-date=30 November 2023 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225525/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/entertainment/pogues-frontman-shane-macgowan-obsessed-with-the-troubles/41222118.html |url-status=live }}

In a 1997 interview with The Irish World, MacGowan said that he wished for "the peace process" to succeed, but believed it would "be a long, drawn-out process". He added that he wished for a quicker resolution that led to "the English" giving up all control of Irish lands, and that Ireland be made into a "socialist republic".{{Cite web |date=15 October 2009 |title=Shane MacGowan: Interview from The Irish World 1997 |url=http://www.shanemacgowan.com/articles/irishworld.shtml |access-date=13 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015215316/http://www.shanemacgowan.com/articles/irishworld.shtml |archive-date=15 October 2009 }}

=Health and addictions=

MacGowan "battled longstanding health issues, compounded by well-documented struggles with substance abuse".{{Cite web| url= https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/uk/shane-macgowan-the-end-of-an-era-in-celtic-folk-punk/articleshow/105629774.cms| title= Shane MacGowan: The end of an era in Celtic folk-punk| date= 30 November 2023| work= The Economic Times, The Times of India| access-date= 4 December 2023| archive-date= 4 December 2023| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231204114528/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/uk/shane-macgowan-the-end-of-an-era-in-celtic-folk-punk/articleshow/105629774.cms| url-status= live}} He was "a famously voracious consumer of drugs and prone to physical trauma".{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/shane-macgowan-leaves-the-astral-plane|title=Shane MacGowan Leaves the Astral Plane|first=Amanda|last=Petrusich|magazine=The New Yorker |date=1 December 2023}}

MacGowan began drinking alcohol at age five, when his family gave him Guinness to help him sleep. His father frequently took him to the local pub while he drank with his friends.{{Cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=Victoria Mary|title=A Drink with Shane MacGowan|year=2001|publisher=Grove Press|isbn=978-0-802-13790-6}} He suffered physically from years of binge drinking.{{Cite news |date=30 November 2023 |title=Shane MacGowan, fast-living, hard-drinking lead singer of Irish folk punk band the Pogues – obituary|work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/11/30/shane-macgowan-fast-living-ireland-drinking-songs/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130170025/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/11/30/shane-macgowan-fast-living-ireland-drinking-songs/ |url-status=live }} MacGowan also used LSD, and he developed a heroin addiction during his tenure with the Pogues. In the 1980s, he "was repeatedly injured in falls and struck by moving vehicles". While in New Zealand during a 1988 Pogues tour, MacGowan "painted his hotel room, face and chest blue, apparently because 'the Maoris were talking to me'". Problems arising from his alcohol and drug abuse led to his firing from the Pogues in 1991, and he experienced stomach ulcers and alcoholic hepatitis in the 1990s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/30/shane-macgowan-obituary|title=Shane MacGowan obituary|first=Derek|last=Schofield|date=30 November 2023|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 December 2023|archive-date=4 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204035250/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/30/shane-macgowan-obituary|url-status=live}} MacGowan often performed onstage and gave interviews while drunk. In 2004, on the BBC TV political magazine programme This Week, he gave incoherent and slurred answers to questions from Janet Street-Porter about the public smoking ban in Ireland.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/janet-street-porter/editor-at-large-tasteless-rude-brilliant-not-you-shane-54516.html|title=Editor-At-Large: Tasteless, rude, brilliant (not you, Shane)| first=Janet |last= Street-Porter|author-link= Janet Street-Porter|work=The Independent|access-date=4 April 2004|archive-date=18 March 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170318172720/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/janet-street-porter/editor-at-large-tasteless-rude-brilliant-not-you-shane-54516.html|url-status=live}}

In November 1999, MacGowan was arrested in London after Sinéad O'Connor found him passed out on his floor, and called emergency services. MacGowan was charged with heroin possession in January 2000. When police formally cautioned MacGowan (a process that "requires the accused to admit their guilt"), MacGowan accepted the caution and the criminal case against him was terminated in March 2000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/pogues-singer-formally-cautioned-in-london-following-heroin-charge-1.252821|title=Pogues singer formally cautioned in London following heroin charge|newspaper=The Irish Times |last= Donnelly| first=Rachel|date=7 March 2000|access-date=2 December 2023|archive-date=1 December 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231201061205/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/pogues-singer-formally-cautioned-in-london-following-heroin-charge-1.252821|url-status=live}} O'Connor said she took this action in an attempt to discourage him from using heroin.{{cite web |url=http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/07/31/macgowan/index.html |title= Shane MacGowan | website= Salon.com |date=31 July 2001 |access-date=19 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090423072033/http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/07/31/macgowan/index.html |archive-date=23 April 2009 }} Although he was furious with O'Connor at first, MacGowan later expressed gratitude to her and said that the incident helped him kick his heroin habit.{{cite web |url= http://www.concertlivewire.com/interviews/shane.htm |title=Shane MacGowan Interview – One on One |work=Concertlivewire.com |date= 4 March 2003 |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=4 April 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090404051118/http://www.concertlivewire.com/interviews/shane.htm |url-status=live }}

MacGowan experienced years of ill health toward the end of his life.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clwp9x8p7gno|title=Fairytale of New York singer Shane MacGowan out of hospital|publisher=BBC|last=Stewart|first=Amy|date=23 November 2023|access-date=4 December 2023|archive-date=4 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204114528/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clwp9x8p7gno|url-status=live}} In mid-2015, as he was leaving a Dublin studio, he fell and fractured his pelvis. After that, he used a wheelchair. Later that year, MacGowan said: "It was a fall, and I fell the wrong way. I broke my pelvis, which is the worst thing you can do. I'm lame in one leg, I can't walk around the room without a crutch. I am getting better, but it's taking a very long time. It's the longest I've ever taken to recover from an injury. And I've had a lot of injuries".{{cite news |first=Leonie |last=Cooper |date=24 December 2015 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-interview-with-shane-macgowan/ |title="I Don't Like Christmas, It's Gross": An Interview With Shane MacGowan |work=Vice (magazine) |access-date=24 December 2015 |archive-date=10 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210145018/http://www.vice.com/read/an-interview-with-shane-macgowan |url-status=live }} He continued to use a wheelchair until his death in 2023.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42701430 |title=Shane MacGowan celebrates 60th birthday at Dublin bash |publisher=BBC |date=16 January 2018 |access-date=6 November 2018 |archive-date=22 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122154950/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42701430 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67546785|title=Shane MacGowan: Pogues singer dies aged 65|date=30 November 2023|publisher= BBC|access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130134826/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67546785|url-status=live}}

In 2016, Clarke told the press that MacGowan was sober "for the first time in years". She indicated that MacGowan's drinking had "not just been a recreational activity", but that "his whole career has revolved around it and, indeed, been both enhanced and simultaneously inhibited by it". She said that his drinking problem was made much worse by the introduction of hard drugs such as heroin. Clarke added that a serious bout with pneumonia—compounded by his 2015 hip injury, which required a long hospital stay—was ultimately responsible for his sobriety. The hospital stay required a total detox, and MacGowan's sobriety continued after he returned home.{{cite web |url=http://goss.ie/showbiz/shane-macgowans-partner-reveals-sober-first-time-years-86530 |title=Shane MacGowan's partner reveals he is 'sober for the FIRST time in years' |website=Goss.ie |date=30 October 2016 |author=Ali Ryan |access-date=26 January 2019 |archive-date=27 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127035414/http://goss.ie/showbiz/shane-macgowans-partner-reveals-sober-first-time-years-86530 |url-status=live }}

MacGowan was long known for having very bad teeth. He lost the last of his natural teeth around 2008. In 2015, he had a new set of teeth—including one gold tooth—fitted in a nine-hour procedure. The new set of teeth was secured by eight titanium dental implants. The procedure was the subject of the hour-long television programme Shane MacGowan: A Wreck Reborn.{{cite web |url= http://www.anglotopia.net/british-entertainment/brit-tv/shane-macgowan-shows-off-new-teeth-calls-quits-pogues/ |title=Shane MacGowan shows off his new teeth; calls it quits with the Pogues. (by Derek) |date=29 December 2015 |website=Anglotopia.net |access-date=5 March 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211001231628/https://anglotopia.net/british-entertainment/brit-tv/shane-macgowan-shows-off-new-teeth-calls-quits-pogues/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/dec/20/shane-macgowan-a-wreck-reborn-new-teeth-tv-special |title='Everest of dentistry': Shane MacGowan gets new teeth in TV special |newspaper=The Guardian|location=London |date=20 December 2015 |author=Peter Walker |access-date=20 December 2015 |archive-date=20 December 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151220150410/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/dec/20/shane-macgowan-a-wreck-reborn-new-teeth-tv-special |url-status=live }}

In early February 2021, MacGowan broke his knee in a fall at his home. This left him bed-ridden for a short time.{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishpost.com/news/pogues-star-shane-macgowan-badly-injured-after-falling-and-breaking-knee-203523|title=Pogues star Shane MacGowan badly injured after falling and breaking knee|first=Harry|last=Brent|website=The Irish Post|date=10 February 2021|access-date=2 December 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130200629/https://www.irishpost.com/news/pogues-star-shane-macgowan-badly-injured-after-falling-and-breaking-knee-203523|url-status=live}}

MacGowan was hospitalised for an infection on 6 December 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/shane-macgowan-of-the-pogues-admitted-to-hospital-3361236 |title= Shane MacGowan of The Pogues admitted to hospital| website=NME |last=Disalvo|first=Tom|date=6 December 2022|access-date=12 December 2022|archive-date=12 December 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221212152554/https://www.nme.com/news/music/shane-macgowan-of-the-pogues-admitted-to-hospital-3361236|url-status=live}}{{cite web| url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/shane-macgowan-hospital-health-latest-b2239614.html|title=Pogues singer Shane MacGowan rushed to hospital as wife urges fans to 'send prayers'|website=The Independent|last=Harrison|first=Ellie|date=6 December 2022|access-date=12 December 2022|archive-date=12 December 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221212152552/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/shane-macgowan-hospital-health-latest-b2239614.html|url-status=live}} He was diagnosed with viral encephalitis.{{cite news |last1=Woodcock |first1=Zara |title=Shane MacGowan's wife issues update as singer marks four months in hospital |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/shane-macgowans-wife-issues-update-31046639 |access-date=3 October 2023 |work=Daily Mirror |date=27 September 2023|archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002082800/https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/shane-macgowans-wife-issues-update-31046639 |url-status=live }} Days after MacGowan had entered hospital, Clarke told the Irish Independent that he "seems perfectly normal now – he is pissed off because he can't have a drink in the hospital". Clarke reportedly added that she had urged MacGowan to "ditch his hard-living lifestyle", but that her efforts had not been met with success.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/when-something-happens-to-him-then-i-freak-out-victoria-attempts-to-get-pogues-star-shane-macgowan-on-a-health-kick/42210992.html|title='When something happens to him then I freak out' – Victoria attempts to get Pogues star Shane MacGowan on a health kick|date=13 December 2022|website=Irish Independent|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111802/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/when-something-happens-to-him-then-i-freak-out-victoria-attempts-to-get-pogues-star-shane-macgowan-on-a-health-kick/42210992.html|url-status=live}}

Death

It was reported on 23 July 2023 that MacGowan was hospitalised in an intensive care unit.{{cite news| last = Wilkes| first = Emma| date = 23 July 2023| title = Shane MacGowan recovering after stay in intensive care| newspaper = NME| url = https://www.nme.com/news/music/shane-macgowan-recovering-after-stay-in-intensive-care-3472135| access-date = 10 September 2023| archive-date = 3 October 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231003172701/https://www.nme.com/news/music/shane-macgowan-recovering-after-stay-in-intensive-care-3472135| url-status = live}} Following treatment for an infection, he was visited by many celebrities while in hospital. He was discharged from St. Vincent's University Hospital on 23 November 2023 after four months of treatment, but was shortly thereafter re-admitted with another infection.{{cite AV media|title = Victoria Mary Clarke: On grief, children, addiction, spirituality and why she doesn't know if it's possible to find another soul mate like Shane MacGowan|url = https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/victoria-mary-clarke-on-grief-children-addiction-spirituality/id1707125785?i=1000660286831|work = What a Woman|date = 26 June 2024|accessdate = 18 October 2024|time = 15:07|quote = He came home, but then he got an infection and then he had to go back into hospital.}}{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/1122/1418012-victoria-says-shane-macgowan-released-from-hospital/|title=Shane MacGowan discharged from hospital, says wife|publisher=RTÉ News|date=22 November 2023|access-date=23 November 2023|archive-date=23 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123114116/https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/1122/1418012-victoria-says-shane-macgowan-released-from-hospital/|url-status=live}} At 3:30 a.m. on 30 November 2023, as he was receiving last rites, MacGowan died from pneumonia with his wife and sister-in-law by his side; he was 65.{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Matt |date=1 December 2023 |title=Shane MacGowan, 65, Who Fused Punk and Irish Rebellion, Is Dead |page=B13 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/arts/music/shane-macgowan-dead.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |accessdate=1 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201154011/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/arts/music/shane-macgowan-dead.html |archive-date=1 December 2023}}{{cite news |last=Calnan |first=Denise |date=30 November 2023 |title=Legendary The Pogues singer Shane McGowan dies, aged 65 |newspaper=Irish Independent |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/legendary-the-pogues-singer-shane-macgowan-dies-aged-65/a25809952.html |access-date=30 November 2023 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130132337/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/legendary-the-pogues-singer-shane-macgowan-dies-aged-65/a25809952.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/1130/1419329-pogues-frontman-shane-macgowan-dies-aged-65/|title=Pogues frontman and songwriter Shane MacGowan dies aged 65|publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann|date=30 November 2023|access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130143111/https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/1130/1419329-pogues-frontman-shane-macgowan-dies-aged-65/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url = https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/23/shane-macgowans-wife-describes-moment-peaceful-death-20019522/|title = Shane MacGowan's wife saw 'thousands of angels' at moment of his death|last = O'Connor|first = Rachael|date = 23 December 2023|accessdate = 24 September 2024|work = Metro|quote = She wrote of the moment he died, at 3.30am on November 30: 'Mercifully, he looked very peaceful and there was an immediate atmosphere of grace in the hospital room...'}}{{cite AV media|url = https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22328585/|title = Shane MacGowan|website = RTÉ Radio 1|date = 2 December 2023|accessdate = 23 September 2024|quote = He died during the prayers... It was just me and my sister with him|time = 31:21}} He left an estate of €849,733, which he willed to his wife.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/shane-macgowans-reveals-what-pogues-33222813|title=Shane MacGowan's will reveals what Pogues legend left behind for wife Victoria|work=Irish Mirror|last=Mallon |first=Sandra|date=11 July 2024}}

On 8 December, MacGowan's coffin was borne through the streets of Dublin on a horse-drawn carriage as fans lined the streets for his funeral procession. Later, hundreds gathered inside and outside Saint Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, County Tipperary, including celebrities Nick Cave, Johnny Depp, BP Fallon, Bob Geldof, Aidan Gillen, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. There was dancing inside the church as "Fairytale of New York" was performed by the Pogues with Glen Hansard, Lisa O'Neill and John Sheahan from the Dubliners.{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2023/1208/1420829-shane-macgowan-funeral/|title=Tributes to 'trailblazer' MacGowan at musical funeral|publisher=RTÉ News|date=8 December 2023|accessdate=8 December 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Carroll |first=Rory |date=8 December 2023 |title='He embodied who we are, warts and all': Dublin mourners bid farewell to Shane MacGowan|work=The Guardian|location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/08/mourners-line-dublin-streets-say-farewell-shane-macgowan |access-date=8 December 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}{{cite web |title='Fairytale of New York' Played at Shane MacGowan's Funeral | date=11 December 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s8lvnSmISc |via=YouTube |publisher=RTÉ News |access-date=25 December 2023}}

"Fairytale of New York" went to No. 1 in Ireland on the weekend of MacGowan's funeral.{{Cite web |last=O'Shea |first=Kerry |date=4 December 2023 |title="Fairytale of New York" surges to number one after Shane MacGowan's death |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/fairytale-of-new-york-number-one|access-date=13 December 2023 |website=Irish Central}} On 13 December 2023, the Pogues reissued the song as a charity seven-inch single in tribute to MacGowan and to benefit the Dublin Simon Community, an anti-homelessness organisation that MacGowan had supported.{{Cite magazine |last=Blistein |first=John |date=13 December 2023 |title=The Pogues Reissue 'Fairytale of New York' as Charity Single Honoring Shane MacGowan |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pogues-shane-macgowan-fairytale-of-new-york-charity-single-1234927476/|access-date=13 December 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}

A pair of posthumous portraits, following MacGowan’s last London visit by artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, were unveiled in London to support the Encephalitis Society.{{Cite news |last=McLaughlin |first=Charlotte |date=7 December 2023 |title=Portraits capturing Shane MacGowan's final London visit up for auction |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/shane-macgowan-london-amy-winehouse-camden-one-b2460259.html |work=Independent}}

Legacy

Following MacGowan's death, Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, said: "Shane will be remembered as one of music's greatest lyricists. So many of his songs would be perfectly crafted poems, if that would not have deprived us of the opportunity to hear him sing them. The genius of Shane's contribution includes the fact that his songs capture within them, as Shane would put it, the measure of our dreams—of so many worlds, and particularly those of love, of the emigrant experience and of facing the challenges of that experience with authenticity and courage, and of living and seeing the sides of life that so many turn away from."{{cite web|url=https://president.ie/en/media-library/news-releases/statement-by-president-higgins-on-the-death-of-shane-macgowan|title=Statement by President Higgins on the death of Shane MacGowan|last=Higgins|first=Michael D.|author-link=Michael D. Higgins|publisher=President of Ireland|date=30 November 2023|access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130170021/https://president.ie/en/media-library/news-releases/statement-by-president-higgins-on-the-death-of-shane-macgowan|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/30/greatest-lyricist-irish-president-leads-irelands-tributes-shane-macgowan|title='Greatest lyricist': Irish president leads Ireland's tributes to Shane MacGowan|first1=Rory|last1=Carroll|date=30 November 2023|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London}}

The New York Times described MacGowan as "a master songsmith whose lyrics painted vivid portraits of the underbelly of Irish immigrant life."

Following MacGowan's death, Tom Waits wrote on X: "Shane MacGowan's torrid and mighty voice is mud and roses punched out with swaggering stagger, ancient longing that is blasted all to hell. A Bard's bard, may he cast his spell upon us all forevermore."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/tom-waits-pays-tribute-to-shane-macgowan-may-he-cast-his-spell-upon-us-all-forevermore-3552394|title=Tom Waits pays tribute to Shane MacGowan: "May he cast his spell upon us all forevermore"|first=Max|last=Pilley|date=2 December 2023|website=NME}}

Nick Cave called MacGowan "the greatest songwriter of his generation, with the most terrifyingly beautiful of voices".{{cite web | url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/nick-cave-pens-tribute-sinead-092600089.html/ | title=Nick Cave pens tribute to Sinead O'Connor and Shane MacGowan | date=2 December 2023 }} Bruce Springsteen said the "passion and deep intensity of [MacGowan's] music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock and roll canon... I don't know about the rest of us, but they'll be singing Shane's songs 100 years from now."{{cite web | url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/bruce-springsteen-calls-shane-macgowan-one-of-my-all-time-favourite-writers-in-touching-tribute-3552221/ | title=Bruce Springsteen calls Shane MacGowan "one of my all-time favourite writers" in touching tribute | website=NME | date=2 December 2023 }}

When Bob Dylan performed a concert in Dublin in 2022, he paid tribute to MacGowan while onstage, describing the former Pogues frontman as one of his "favourite artists".{{Cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dylan-tribute-shane-mcgowan-dublin/|title=Bob Dylan pays tribute to Shane McGowan on stage in Dublin|date=10 November 2022|website=faroutmagazine.co.uk}}

Paul Simon said MacGowan was "that kind of artist that needed to burn very brightly and intensely. Some artists are like that. They produce work that we treasure but they pay for it with their health – their bodily health and their mental health. That was Shane."{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishstar.com/culture/music-nightlife/paul-simon-plans-duet-shane-31576661|title=Paul Simon had plans for a duet with Shane MacGowan that never came to pass|first=Laura|last=Colgan|date=1 December 2023|website=Irish Star}}

=Autobiography and biographies=

In 2001, MacGowan coauthored the autobiographical book A Drink with Shane MacGowan with his future wife, Victoria Mary Clarke.{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/shane-macgowan-pogues-dead-obit-1234809695/ |title=Shane MacGowan, Pogues Lead Singer and Raspy Voice of Irish Punk Rock, Dead at 65 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=30 November 2023 |accessdate=30 November 2023 |first=Kory |last=Grow |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130143020/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/shane-macgowan-pogues-dead-obit-1234809695/ |url-status=live }} The book was published by Pan Macmillan.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Io2NSinm-ToC&q=a+drink+with+shane+macgowan |title=A Drink with Shane MacGowan |date=31 May 2012 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=9780330475662 |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207114535/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Drink_with_Shane_MacGowan/Io2NSinm-ToC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=a+drink+with+shane+macgowan&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}

Aside from Rake at the Gates of Hell: Shane MacGowan in Context, which covered a portion of his musical career, MacGowan was the subject of a 2015 biography, A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan, published by Omnibus Press.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xWCKzQEACAAJ |title=A Furious Devotion |isbn=9781787601086 |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207115018/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Furious_Devotion/xWCKzQEACAAJ?hl=en |url-status=live |last1=Balls |first1=Richard |date=26 December 2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press }}{{Cite magazine |last=O'Rear |first=Caine |date=15 November 2021 |title=New Shane MacGowan Book Documents Drinking, Drugging, Fighting, and Brilliance of Pogues Singer |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/shane-macgowan-pogues-book-furious-devotion-1257334/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225534/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/shane-macgowan-pogues-book-furious-devotion-1257334/ |url-status=live }} He

was also the subject of several books and paintings. In 2000, Tim Bradford used the title Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive? for a humorous book about Ireland and Irish culture.[http://www.thesmoke.net/timbradford/shane.html Is Shane Macgowan Still Alive?: Travels in Irishry], London: Flamingo, 2001 ({{ISBN|978-0-00-655168-3}}; LCC-DA959.1) ({{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060815234102/http://www.thesmoke.net/timbradford/shane.html |date=15 August 2006 }})

Shaman Shane: The Wounded Healer by Stephan Martin brands Shane as a latter-day London-Irish spirit-raiser and exorcist. This commentary is found in the book Myth of Return: The Paintings of Brian Whelan and Collected Commentaries.{{cite book |title=Myth of Return |year=2007 |publisher=Roseberry Crest |page= 16 |isbn=978-0-9555048-0-8 |url=http://www.brianwhelan.co.uk|access-date=16 December 2012 |archive-date=8 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208101016/http://www.brianwhelan.co.uk/ |url-status=live}} London Irish artist Brian Whelan has painted MacGowan (for example Boy from the County Hell); his works are featured on MacGowan's official website, and he is also the illustrator of The Popes' Outlaw Heaven cover.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

=Honours and awards=

File:Shane MacGowan Lifetime Achievement.jpg

In 2006, MacGowan was voted 50th in the NME Rock Heroes List.{{cite web | url=https://www.nme.com/news/nirvana/23019 | title=Your biggest rock 'n' roll hero revealed | work=NME | date=10 May 2006 | access-date=24 August 2015 | author=Bychwski, Adam | archive-date=18 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018143216/http://www.nme.com/news/nirvana/23019 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=http://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/58798-Top-50-Heroes-poll-in-today-s-NME | title=Top 50 Heroes poll in today's NME | publisher=morrissey-solo.com | date=10 May 2006 | access-date=24 August 2015 | archive-date=18 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018143215/http://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/58798-Top-50-Heroes-poll-in-today-s-NME | url-status=live }} In January 2018, MacGowan was honoured with a concert gala to celebrate his 60th birthday at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, where Irish president Michael D. Higgins presented him with a lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to Irish life, music and culture.{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/president-higgins-presents-shane-macgowan-with-lifetime-achievement-award-1.3357158 |title=President Higgins presents Shane MacGowan with lifetime achievement award |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=16 January 2018 |access-date=6 May 2020 |archive-date=25 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225124751/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/president-higgins-presents-shane-macgowan-with-lifetime-achievement-award-1.3357158 |url-status=live }} He also won the 2018 Ivor Novello Inspiration Award.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/shane-macgowan-and-ed-sheeran-win-ivor-novello-awards-1.3515409|title=Shane MacGowan and Ed Sheeran win Ivor Novello awards|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029041649/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/shane-macgowan-and-ed-sheeran-win-ivor-novello-awards-1.3515409|url-status=live}}

Selected discography

=The Nips/Nipple Erectors=

Bops, Babes, Booze & Bovver (1987/2003 – Archived Compilation){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/fr/The-Nips-n-Nipple-Erectors-Bops-Babes-Booze-Bovver/release/1199411|title=The Nips 'n' Nipple Erectors – Bops, Babes, Booze & Bovver|work=Discogs|date=26 October 1987|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103315/https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/1199411-The-Nips-n-Nipple-Erectors-Bops-Babes-Booze-Bovver|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/fr/The-Nips-n-Nipple-Erectors-Bops-Babes-Booze-Bovver/release/669151|title=The Nips 'n' Nipple Erectors – Bops, Babes, Booze & Bovver|work=Discogs|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103354/https://ssum-sec.casalemedia.com/usermatch?d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.discogs.com%2F&s=184674&cb=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.indexww.com%2Fht%2Fhtw-pixel.gif%3F|url-status=live}}

=Albums=

With the Pogues{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-pogues-mn0000489876 |title=The Pogues |work=AllMusic |accessdate=30 November 2023 |archive-date=20 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120154441/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-pogues-mn0000489876 |url-status=live }}

Red Roses for Me (October 1984){{cite magazine |last=Aizlewood |first=John |date=January 2005 |title=Review: The Pogues – Red Roses for Me |magazine=Q |issue=222 |page=141}}
Rum Sodomy & the Lash (August 1985){{cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Mark |date=June 1994 |title=The Pogues: Rum Sodomy & the Lash |magazine=Q |location=London |issue=93 |pages=134–135}}
If I Should Fall from Grace with God (January 1988){{cite magazine |last=O'Hagan |first=Sean |author-link=Sean O'Hagan (journalist) |date=21 March 1987 |title=Wild Rovers' Return |magazine=NME |pages=24–25}}
Peace and Love (1989){{Cite web |title=Procol Harum, A Whiter Shade of Pale, Single |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=BPI|archive-date=7 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507201753/https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |url-status=live }}
Hell's Ditch (1990)
The Pogues in Paris: 30th Anniversary concert at the Olympia (November 2012){{Cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/profiles/macgowan-shane/|title=RTÉ Archives | Shane MacGowan|publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann|access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=27 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127041619/http://www.rte.ie/archives/profiles/macgowan-shane/|url-status=live}}

As Shane MacGowan and The Popes{{Cite web |title=Shane MacGowan and the Popes – The Rare Oul' Stuff |url=https://www.discogs.com/Shane-MacGowan-And-The-Popes-The-Rare-Oul-Stuff/release/3521738 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526215655/https://www.discogs.com/Shane-MacGowan-And-The-Popes-The-Rare-Oul-Stuff/release/3521738 |archive-date=26 May 2019 |access-date=10 May 2020 |work=Discogs}}

The Snake (1994){{Cite book |last=Buckley |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&dq=The+Snake+%28Shane+MacGowan&pg=PA624 |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-84353-105-0|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103350/https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&dq=The+Snake+%28Shane+MacGowan&pg=PA624#v=onepage&q=The%20Snake%20(Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
The Crock of Gold (October 1997)
The Rare Oul' Stuff (2001 / January 2002) (a 2-disc best-of collection of B-sides and key album tracks spanning the years 1994 to 1998){{Cite book |last1=Watt |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3U3DgAAQBAJ&dq=The+Rare+Oul%27+Stuff+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PA47 |title=Cheap Print and Popular Song in the Nineteenth Century |last2=Scott |first2=Derek B. |last3=Spedding |first3=Patrick |date=23 March 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-15991-4 |page=47|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103352/https://books.google.com/books?id=V3U3DgAAQBAJ&dq=The+Rare+Oul%27+Stuff+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PA47#v=onepage&q=The%20Rare%20Oul'%20Stuff%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
Across the Broad Atlantic: Live on Paddy's Day — New York and Dublin (with Shane MacGowan and the Popes, February 2002){{Cite book |last1=Byrne |first1=James Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3wZAQAAIAAJ&q=Across+the+Broad+Atlantic%3A+Live+on+Paddy%27s+Day+Shane+MacGowan |title=Ireland and the Americas [3 Volumes]: Culture, Politics, and History |last2=Coleman |first2=Philip |last3=King |first3=Jason |date=2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-85109-614-5 |page=534|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103316/https://books.google.com/books?id=h3wZAQAAIAAJ&q=Across+the+Broad+Atlantic%3A+Live+on+Paddy%27s+Day+Shane+MacGowan |url-status=live }}

=Singles=

With the Pogues

Poguetry in Motion EP (No. 29 UK){{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=Poguetry+in+Motion+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT84 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103316/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=Poguetry+in+Motion+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT84#v=onepage&q=Poguetry%20in%20Motion%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
"The Irish Rover" (featuring the Dubliners) (No. 8 UK)
"Fairytale of New York" (featuring Kirsty MacColl) – No. 2 UK; reissued in 1991 (No. 24 UK), 2005 (No. 3 UK) and 2007 (No. 4 UK){{Cite book |last=Clerk |first=Carol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ykHWqIjBw68C&dq=irish+rover++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT298 |title=Kiss My Arse: The Story of the Pogues |date=4 November 2009 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-019-9|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207103316/https://books.google.com/books?id=ykHWqIjBw68C&dq=irish+rover++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT298#v=onepage&q=irish%20rover%20%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
"Fiesta" (No. 24 UK){{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=fiesta+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT133 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104452/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=fiesta+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT133#v=onepage&q=fiesta%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}

Solo

"What a Wonderful World" (with Nick Cave, No. 69 UK 1992){{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22What+a+Wonderful+World%22+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT179 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104427/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22What+a+Wonderful+World%22+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT179#v=onepage&q=%22What%20a%20Wonderful%20World%22%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
"The Church of the Holy Spook" (with the Popes, No. 74 UK 1994)
"That Woman's Got Me Drinking" (with the Popes, No. 34 UK 1994){{Cite book |last=Goodall |first=Nigel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSCtDwAAQBAJ&dq=That+Woman%27s+Got+Me+Drinking%22%22+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT368 |title=The Secret World of Johnny Depp |date=7 June 2010 |publisher=Kings Road Publishing |isbn=978-1-84358-295-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104418/https://books.google.com/books?id=pSCtDwAAQBAJ&dq=That+Woman%27s+Got+Me+Drinking%22%22+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT368#v=onepage&q=That%20Woman's%20Got%20Me%20Drinking%22%22%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
"Haunted" (with Sinéad O'Connor, No. 30 UK 1995){{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Haunted%22+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT193 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104426/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Haunted%22+Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT193#v=onepage&q=%22Haunted%22%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
"My Way" (No. 29 UK 1996){{Cite book |last=Magnus |first=P. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlhtEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22My+Way%22++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT110 |title=A Philosophy of Cover Songs |date=28 April 2022 |publisher=Open Book Publishers |isbn=978-1-80064-425-0|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104440/https://books.google.com/books?id=YlhtEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22My+Way%22++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT110#v=onepage&q=%22My%20Way%22%20%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
"I Put a Spell on You" (Haiti Charity Song) (with Nick Cave, Bobby Gillespie, Chrissie Hynde, Mick Jones with actor Johnny Depp, Glen Matlock, Paloma Faith and Eliza Doolittle) (2010){{cite web |author=Nick Neyland |url=http://www.prefixmag.com/media/shane-macgowan-and-friends/i-put-a-spell-on-you-haiti-charity-song-video/37970/ |title=Shane MacGowan and Friends: 'I Put a Spell on You' (Haiti Charity | Prefix |work=Prefixmag.com |access-date=19 April 2014 |archive-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623204913/http://www.prefixmag.com/media/shane-macgowan-and-friends/i-put-a-spell-on-you-haiti-charity-song-video/37970/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2010/03/watch_shane_macgowan_friends_i.html|title=Watch Shane MacGowan & Friends Record I Put A Spell on You!|date=5 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305170643/http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2010/03/watch_shane_macgowan_friends_i.html|archive-date=5 March 2010}}

=Guest appearances=

"What a Wonderful World" (with Nick Cave, 1992){{Cite web |date=28 July 2020 |title=Listen to Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan's unique cover of 'What A Wonderful World' – Far Out Magazine |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/nick-cave-pogues-shane-macgowan-louis-armstrong-what-a-wonderful-world-cover/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225530/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/nick-cave-pogues-shane-macgowan-louis-armstrong-what-a-wonderful-world-cover/ |url-status=live }}
"Suite Sudarmoricaine", "Tri Martolod", "The Foggy Dew" (Foggy Dew) (with Alan Stivell, Again, 1993){{Cite book |last=Guaitamacchi |first=Ezio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vclHAAAAMAAJ&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22Suite+Sudarmoricaine%22 |title=Enciclopedia rock anni '90 |date=1997 |publisher=Arcana |isbn=978-88-7966-144-7 |page=608 |language=it |access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104432/https://books.google.com/books?id=vclHAAAAMAAJ&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22Suite+Sudarmoricaine%22 |url-status=live }}
"The Wild Rover" (with Sinéad O'Connor) – Soldat Louis, album Auprès de ma bande, 1993{{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22The+Wild+Rover%22&pg=PT69 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104419/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22The+Wild+Rover%22&pg=PT69#v=onepage&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22%20%20%20%22The%20Wild%20Rover%22&f=false |url-status=live }}
"God Help Me" (with the Jesus and Mary Chain, Stoned & Dethroned, 1994){{Cite book |last=Joynson |first=Vernon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-3cEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22God+Help+Me%22&pg=PA1921 |title=Discover UK Shoegaze and Dream Pop: A Music Guide to Shoegaze and Dream Pop with Artist Discographies and Biographical Information |date=20 October 2023 |publisher=Borderline Productions |isbn=978-1-899855-25-4|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207104453/https://books.google.com/books?id=j-3cEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22God+Help+Me%22&pg=PA1921#v=onepage&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22%20%20%20%22God%20Help%20Me%22&f=false |url-status=live }}
"Death Is Not the End" (on Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Murder Ballads LP, 1996){{Cite book |last=Blandford |first=James R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EltPXo7RdigC&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22Death+Is+Not+the+End%22&pg=PT121 |title=PJ Harvey: Siren Rising |date=17 December 2009 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-110-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207112229/https://books.google.com/books?id=EltPXo7RdigC&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22Death+Is+Not+the+End%22&pg=PT121#v=onepage&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22%20%20%20%22Death%20Is%20Not%20the%20End%22&f=false |url-status=live }}
"Perfect Day" (Children in Need single, No. 1 UK, 1997){{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Day-BBC-Children-Need/dp/B000007VVE|title=Perfect Day '97|website=Amazon UK |date=21 November 1997|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=23 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323193244/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Day-BBC-Children-Need/dp/B000007VVE|url-status=live}}
"The Wild Rover" and "Good Rats" (with Dropkick Murphys, June 2000){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/fr/Dropkick-Murphys-Good-Rats-The-Wild-Rover/release/2399099|title=Dropkick Murphys – Good Rats / The Wild Rover|work=Discogs|date=17 May 2013 |access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329011346/https://www.discogs.com/fr/Dropkick-Murphys-Good-Rats-The-Wild-Rover/release/2399099|url-status=live}}
"Town I Love So Well",{{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Town+I+Love+So+Well%22&pg=PT56 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207112223/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Town+I+Love+So+Well%22&pg=PT56#v=snippet&q=%22Town%20I%20Love%20So%20Well%22&f=false |url-status=live }} "Satan Is Waiting", "Without You", "Long Back Veil" (with Lancaster County Prison, on Every Goddamn Time) Coolidge Records 2003{{Cite web |title=Lancaster County Prison 'Every Goddamn Time' |url=http://coolidgerecords.com/Coolidge-Artists/Lancaster-County-Prison-Every-Goddamn-Time.html |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=coolidgerecords.com |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120175812/http://coolidgerecords.com/Coolidge-Artists/Lancaster-County-Prison-Every-Goddamn-Time.html |url-status=live }}
"Ride On" and "Spancill Hill" (with Cruachan, 2004){{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22Spancil+Hill%22&pg=PT215 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207112322/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22Spancil+Hill%22&pg=PT215#v=onepage&q=%22shane%20macgowan%22%20%20%20%22Spancil%20Hill%22&f=false |url-status=live }}
"Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" (on the Priests' Noel, 2010){{Cite web |date=6 December 2010 |title=The Priests Christmas album released today |url=https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/17266 |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=ICN|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225527/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/17266 |url-status=live }}
"Fix It" (on Alabama 3's Revolver Soul, 2010){{Cite web |title=Shane MacGowan's Guest Appearances |url=http://www.pogues.com/shaneguest2010.html |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=pogues.com |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225548/http://www.pogues.com/shaneguest2010.html |url-status=live }}
"Sous le soleil exactement" (with {{ill|Lulu Gainsbourg|fr}}, {{ill|From Gainsbourg to Lulu|fr|italic=y}}, 2011)

Filmography

The Punk Rock Movie – 1979 (archive footage appearance as himself){{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTn8DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Punk+Rock+Movie+%22++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PA163 |title=100 British Documentaries |date=25 July 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83871-399-7 |page=163|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207112317/https://books.google.com/books?id=aTn8DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Punk+Rock+Movie+%22++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PA163#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Punk%20Rock%20Movie%20%22%20%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}
Eat the Rich – 1987{{Cite book |last=Bainbridge |first=Luke |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TejjAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22eat+the+rich+%22++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT188 |title=The True Story of Acid House: Britain's Last Youth Culture Revolution |date=10 February 2014 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-863-8|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207112243/https://books.google.com/books?id=TejjAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22eat+the+rich+%22++Shane+MacGowan&pg=PT188#v=onepage&q=%22eat%20the%20rich%20%22%20%20Shane%20MacGowan&f=false |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Shane MacGowan |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/shane_macgowan/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=British Comedy Guide|archive-date=1 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201011015/https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/shane_macgowan/ |url-status=live }}
Straight to Hell – 1987
The Pogues – Live at the Town & Country – 1988{{Cite web |title=Pogues Videos |url=http://www.pogues.com/Releases/Disco/Vids.html |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=pogues.com |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130190013/http://pogues.com/Releases/Disco/Vids.html |url-status=live }}
The Ghosts of Oxford Street – 1991{{Cite web |title=Collections Search {{!}} BFI {{!}} British Film Institute |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150391122 |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=collections-search.bfi.org.uk |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111053/https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150391122 |url-status=live }}
Shane MacGowan & The Popes: Live at Montreux 1995 – 1995{{Cite book |last=Merrick |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=Shane+MacGowan+-+Montreux+1995&pg=PT201 |title=Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-842-3|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207110523/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zUDAwAAQBAJ&dq=Shane+MacGowan+-+Montreux+1995&pg=PT201#v=onepage&q=Shane%20MacGowan%20-%20Montreux%201995&f=false |url-status=live }}
The Great Hunger: The Life and Songs of Shane MacGowan – 1997{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Victor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NV0pDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Great+Hunger%3A+The+Life+and+Songs+of+Shane+MacGowan+%22&pg=PA62 |title=Ethnic and Cultural Identity in Music and Song Lyrics |date=20 June 2017 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-9620-7|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207112210/https://books.google.com/books?id=NV0pDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Great+Hunger%3A+The+Life+and+Songs+of+Shane+MacGowan+%22&pg=PA62#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Great%20Hunger%3A%20The%20Life%20and%20Songs%20of%20Shane%20MacGowan%20%22&f=false |url-status=live }}
The Filth and the Fury – 2000 (archive footage appearance as himself){{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0532287/bio|title=Shane MacGowan|publisher=IMDb|access-date=16 December 2012|archive-date=27 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127173358/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0532287/bio|url-status=live}}
If I Should Fall from Grace: The Shane MacGowan Story – 2001{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shane_macgowan|title=Shane MacGowan|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130225534/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shane_macgowan|url-status=live}}
The Clash: Westway to the World – 2002 (archive footage appearance as himself){{cite video|people=Letts Don; Rick Elgood, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, The Clash|year=2001|title=The Clash: Westway to the World|medium=Documentary

|publisher=Sony Music Entertainment; Dorismo; Uptown Films|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-7389-0082-6|oclc=49798077}}

The Libertine – 2004{{Cite book |last=Meikle |first=Denis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L3kWMShLyx8C&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22the+libertine%22 |title=Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion |date=2006 |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn |isbn=978-1-905287-29-1 |page=402|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111036/https://books.google.com/books?id=L3kWMShLyx8C&q=%22shane+macgowan%22+++%22the+libertine%22 |url-status=live }}
The Story of{{Nbsp}}... Fairytale of New York – 2005{{Cite web |title=BBC Four – The Story of Fairytale of New York |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074f8x |access-date=30 November 2023 |publisher=BBC|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130212933/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074f8x |url-status=live }}
Harry Hill's TV Burp – 2007
Harry Hill's TV Burp – 2010 (Christmas special){{Cite web |date=15 February 2022 |title=Harry Hill feared he'd have to sing in place of 'unconscious' Shane MacGowan on TV – Extra.ie |url=https://extra.ie/2022/02/15/entertainment/celebrity/harry-hill-almost-sang-in-place-of-unconscious-shane-macgowan-on-tv |access-date=30 November 2023|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130232529/https://extra.ie/2022/02/15/entertainment/celebrity/harry-hill-almost-sang-in-place-of-unconscious-shane-macgowan-on-tv |url-status=live }}
Rab C. Nesbitt – 2011
The Pogues in Paris: 30th Anniversary concert at the Olympia (DVD) – 2012{{Cite book |last=group) |first=Pogues (Musical |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dC0xzgEACAAJ&q=paris+olympia+pogues |title=The Pogues in Paris: 30th anniversary concert at the Olympia |date=2002 |publisher=Polydor|access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207110732/https://books.google.com/books?id=dC0xzgEACAAJ&q=paris+olympia+pogues |url-status=live }}
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan – 2020{{Cite web |title=Collections Search {{!}} BFI {{!}} British Film Institute |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/156387233 |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=collections-search.bfi.org.uk |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207111121/https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/156387233 |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=27 October 2020 |title='Crock of Gold': See Trailer From Pogues' Shane MacGowan Doc |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/crock-of-gold-shane-mcgowan-pogues-trailer-1079178/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone|archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130214550/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/crock-of-gold-shane-mcgowan-pogues-trailer-1079178/ |url-status=live }}

Notes

{{notelist|notes=

{{efn|name=nationality|MacGowan identified as "London-Irish"{{cite book|first=Sean|year=2011|last=Campbell|title=Irish Blood, English Heart: Second-Generation Irish Musicians in England|url=https://archive.org/details/irishbloodenglis0000camp/page/82/mode/2up |location=Cork|publisher=Cork University Press|page=83|isbn=978-185918-461-5|quote=Emphasising that he was 'London-Irish' (rather than Irish-born), MacGowan would even suggest that The Pogues were 'a London band' that happened to 'play Irish music'.}} and "completely Irish"{{cite book|first=Sean|year=2011|last=Campbell|title=Irish Blood, English Heart: Second-Generation Irish Musicians in England|url=https://archive.org/details/irishbloodenglis0000camp/page/146/mode/2up|location=Cork|publisher=Cork University Press|page=147|isbn=978-185918-461-5|quote="'I am completely Irish', he explained in 2000."}} on different occasions.}}

}}