Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
The Pogues frontman died aged 65

The London-raised child of Irish parents, Shane MacGowan, who has died aged 65, took the folk music of the old country and imbued it with the snarling energy of punk. Billing himself for a time as Shane O'Hooligan, he formed a band called Pogue Mahone (Gaelic slang for "kiss my arse") in 1982, which became the Pogues. As its rumbustious frontman, MacGowan delighted fans with his wild, boozy antics and growling delivery, while turning out a series of beautifully written songs – "A Pair of Brown Eyes", "Sally MacLennane", "Dark Streets of London". Many of them reflected the emigrant experience, of exile and loneliness, hard living and hard labour, said The Guardian. Yet the atmosphere of these "gutter hymns" was celebratory.
Finding fame
The Pogues won a loyal following, largely among the Irish diaspora; then Elvis Costello bet MacGowan that he couldn't write a Christmas song without it being a slushy sell-out. The result was "Fairytale of New York", co-written by Jem Finer and performed with Kirsty MacColl. A painfully raw story of love, bitterness and regret, it went to No. 2 in the charts in 1987, and is now the most played festive song in Britain. "It was Christmas Eve, babe / in the drunk tank / an old man said to me, won't see another one..."
Alas, MacGowan was too familiar with the drunk tank, said Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph. His boozing, which was facilitated by his fame, undermined his "creative force", and took a terrible toll on his health (and his teeth). He'd been given six months to live back in the 1980s, and also suffered a series of serious accidents, including falling out of a fast-moving car.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The background
Shane MacGowan was born in Kent on Christmas Day 1957, during a family visit; his parents later settled in England, where his father worked as a manager at C&A. They had high hopes for their son, whose literary promise was evident early on, and sent him to a private prep school.
From there, he won a scholarship to Westminster School. But Shane had always spent his holidays back at the family farm in Tipperary, and fell in love with the revelry and poetry of his homeland. He was given Guinness aged five and was swigging whiskey aged eight. He was expelled from Westminster for smoking a joint, and aged 17 he was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a drug-induced breakdown.
After The Pogues
Shortly after being discharged, he stumbled into a Sex Pistols gig. He joined a band called the Nipple Erectors (the Nips) before founding the Dubliners-inspired Pogue Mahone. Their instruments, which they learnt as they went along, included a tin whistle and a banjo. They gained a reputation for riotous live shows, and made the charts (as the Pogues) with songs including a cover of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town". Hit albums – "Rum", "Sodomy & the Lash"; "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" – followed, and they graduated from London pubs to international tours. But by then MacGowan's addictions, to alcohol and heroin, were overshadowing his talent, said the BBC. His idol Brendan Behan described himself as a "drinker with a writing problem", and perhaps the same could have been said of him. Even the unruly Pogues could not cope with the chaos he wrought. In 1991, they fired him during a tour in Japan, after he'd missed two of four concerts. "Tssk, what took you so long?" he demanded.
After that, MacGowan formed The Popes, and collaborated with Nick Cave, Van Morrison and Sinéad O'Connor, between periods in hospital. He took part in Pogues reunion tours in the 2000s; but in 2015 he fractured his pelvis, and after that used a wheelchair. In that year, he had 28 teeth implanted – a procedure dubbed the "Everest of dentistry", which was the subject of a TV documentary. He finally kicked heroin, and in 2018 he married his girlfriend of many years, Victoria Clarke, who survives him.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Entente cordiale: will state visit help UK-French relations get over Brexit?
Today's Big Question The King, a keen Francophile who has a warm relationship with Emmanuel Macron, will play a key role in state visit
-
Israel's plan for confining all Palestinians in 'humanitarian city'
The Explainer Defence minister wants to establish zone in Gaza for displaced people – which they would not be allowed to leave – prompting accusations of war crimes
-
Secluded retreats for aspiring writers
The Week Recommends These tranquil hideaways are the perfect place to put pen to paper
-
Jeff in Venice: a 'triumph of tackiness'?
In the Spotlight Locals protest as Bezos uses the city as a 'private amusement park' for his wedding celebrations
-
Shami Chakrabarti picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The politician and human rights activist shares the polemics that inspired her
-
The Anatomy of Painting: Jenny Saville's 'stunning' retrospective
The Week Recommends Saville's new collection features 'masterpieces' from throughout her career
-
M3GAN 2.0: riotous action sequel to the comedy-horror hit about a killer doll
The Week Recommends A 'ridiculously' entertaining 'hyper-camp mash-up' of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible
-
Properties of the week: bright and cheerful houses
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, London and Norfolk
-
6 sleek homes for modernists
Feature Featuring a concrete-and-steel home in South Carolina and a renovated 19th-century former carriage house in Pennsylvania
-
The Genius Myth: a 'fresh and unpretentious' book from Helen Lewis
The Week Recommends This 'angry, witty book' by Helen Lewis is a valuable critique of the 'flattering fiction' of genius
-
From Hilde, With Love – the 'moving' story of an accidental revolutionary
The Week Recommends Liv Lisa Fries gives a 'compelling' performance as the soft-spoken heroine.