Shane MacGowan's wife pays emotional tribute to Pogues rocker after his death aged 65 and says he's 'gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother' - 'You will live in my heart forever. You meant the world to me'

The heartbroken wife of Pogues' frontman Shane MacGowan has paid emotional tribute to the Irish hellraiser following his death, saying he will 'live forever in my heart'. 

The legendary rocker, who was behind the beloved Christmas anthem Fairytale of New York, died 'peacefully' at 3am today, aged 65, with his wife Victoria Mary Clarke and family by his side. 

Announcing the news of the beloved punk star's death, Victoria wrote she had been 'blessed beyond words' to have been 'so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him' and declared: 'You will live in my heart forever... you meant the world to me.'

She added: 'Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.'

The singer was battling viral encephalitis – a life-threatening condition that leads to brain swelling - and had been in and out of Dublin's St Vincent's Hospital for months. He was discharged last week ahead of his upcoming birthday on Christmas Day. 

Rebellious Shane, whose 1987 hit Fairytale of New York became a Christmas classic selling millions of copies worldwide, was famous for his hard-partying lifestyle slurred speech, missing teeth and on-stage meltdowns during his 1980s heyday.

In recent years, the Irish icon was confined to a wheelchair and was aided by his wife and carer at home, having been plagued by by ill-health linked to his years of alcohol and substance abuse.

• News of Shane's death comes as tributes poured in from across the globe
• Bookies slashed odds on The Pogues being the Christmas Number One single 
• Read the tragic story of how Kirsty MacColl - who sang on Fairytale of New York - was killed in speedboat accident days before Christmas 

Born in Kent to Irish parents on Christmas Day 1957, MacGowan in his autobiography described early childhood summers spent at an Irish farmhouse with his family, drinking, smoking and singing traditional songs.

'It was like living in a pub,' he told the Guardian in 2013.

After winning a scholarship to the prestigious Westminster School in London, MacGowan struggled to fit in and was expelled two years later for drug use and started hanging out in London bars with other musicians.

At 17, his alcohol and drug abuse helped trigger a mental breakdown and he was kept in a psychiatric hospital for six months.

After recovering, he embraced the eruption of punk in London in the late 1970s and early 80s.

He brought Irish traditional music to a huge new audience in the late 1980s by splicing it with punk, and achieved mainstream success with his bittersweet, expletive-strewn 1987 Christmas anthem with the Pogues. 

In a statement shared on behalf of his wife, Victoria, Shane's sister Siobhan and father, Maurice, The Pogues' official Instagram page said the music legend 'died peacefully'.

MacGowan's bandmate, Spider Stacy, was among the famous faces leading tributes to the star, as fans and world Irish leaders shared their devastation at the death of the 'a true legend' and 'genius'.

He posted a black and white photo of the singer performing on stage to X, formerly Twitter, writing: 'O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done.'

And MacGowan's sister Siobhan shared lyrics from the Pogues' track, The Broad Majestic Shannon, writing: 'So I walked as day was dawning; as small birds sang and leaves were falling, where we once watched the row boats landing on the Broad Majestic Shannon,'

Irish President Michael D Higgins hailed the musician as one of 'music's greatest lyricists', adding: 'Like so many across the world, it was with the greatest sadness that I learned this morning of the death of Shane MacGowan.

'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.

'His words have connected Irish people all over the globe to their culture and history, encompassing so many human emotions in the most poetic of ways.'

In the UK, Downing Street said Rishi Sunak's thoughts were with MacGowan's family and fans, adding that 'Christmas would not be Christmas without Fairytale Of New York'.

'Particularly on a day where the Prime Minister and his wife are lighting the lights and starting to celebrate the festive season at Christmas - clearly Christmas would not be Christmas without Fairytale Of New York.'

Irish DJ Annie Macnanus - better known as Annie Mac - said: 'One of the finest lyricists of a generation. A man who loved Ireland with all his heart and took the music and culture and mixed it with his London upbringing to bring us The Pogues. What a band. What a discography. 

'I am thankful to my big brothers for playing The Pogues albums relentlessly round the house when I was growing up. His voice will be forever nostalgic for me, taking me straight home to Dublin.'

While Irish premier Leo Varadkar expressed his sadness at the death of the Pogues frontman.

'He was an amazing musician and artist,' he said on X. 'His songs beautifully captured the Irish experience, especially the experience of being Irish abroad.'

While many knew MacGowan primarily for his Christmas ballad Fairytale Of New York and his famously rotten teeth, he was in fact a deep thinker who drew on various elements of Ireland's literary traditions to create an unorthodox musical alchemy which blended the traditional and modern to create something which was original, fearless and often exhilarating.

Born on Christmas Day in Pembury, Kent, in 1957 to Irish parents (his father worked in retail and his mother was an Irish dancer), he soon moved to rural Tipperary where he was immersed in an Irish culture of ceili bands and showbands.

The family later moved back to England and MacGowan earned a literature scholarship to the prestigious Westminster School in London but was expelled in his second year when he was caught in possession of drugs.

MacGowan became involved with the burgeoning punk movement in 1970s England, joining The Nipple Erectors, a band that had been formed in North London by Shanne Bradley.

Then known as Shane O'Hooligan, MacGowan became the front man and chief songwriter for the band which was later renamed The Nips, The group released four singles before splitting up.

He formed his own punk band before a revival in ethnic musical influences led him to form The Pogues in 1982.

The band played traditional Irish and rebel songs given new life by an injection of the energy, anger and anarchy of punk.

Dismissed by many initially as an embarrassing slice of Paddywhackery, the Pogues survived and then thrived due to the unexpected quality and depth of MacGowan's songwriting.

The band reached their critical peak with the 1985 album Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, and their commercial peak with 1988's If I Should Fall from Grace with God.

The latter provided the band with their biggest hit, MacGowan duetting with Kirsty MacColl on Fairytale of New York. Although it was kept off the coveted festive number one spot by The Pet Shop Boys, Fairytale regularly tops polls for the best Christmas song.

However, MacGowan's erratic lifestyle and prodigious drinking began to dim his creative output and limited his ability to fulfil live commitments and promotional activities.

Eventually, The Pogues sacked him in 1991 for his increasingly unreliable behaviour. He later claimed he had not been sober a single day in his life since he was 14.

MacGowan formed his own band The Popes and toured extensively. In 2001, Sinead O'Connor reported him to the police for drug possession - in what she said was an attempt to discourage him from using heroin.

MacGowan began performing with The Pogues again in 2001 and continued to tour with the band for several years, although no new music was recorded.

In 2009 he appeared in his own reality TV show on RTE with long-time girlfriend Victoria Mary Clarke which featured their attempts to grow their own food. A later documentary followed a nine-hour medical procedure in which he had 28 new dentures fitted.

In his later years MacGowan was plagued by ill-health linked to his years of alcohol and substance abuse. In 2015 he fell when leaving a Dublin studio and broke his pelvis, which led to him subsequently having to use a wheelchair.

One of his last public appearances was in 2018 at a special 60th birthday celebration at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Bono, Sinead O'Connor and Cerys Matthews performed his songs while President Michael D Higgins presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

In late November the same year, amid growing fears of MacGowan's failing health, he and Clarke married in a quiet ceremony watched by guests including close friend Johnny Depp.

They tied the knot in Copenhagen, Denmark, after 32 years together, while Depp sang and plucked a guitar.

But despite the ongoing concerns over his health, MacGowan, who by now had all but cemented himself as Ireland's most unlikely national treasure, was not finished just yet.

In 2019 he returned to the stage, appearing at the RDS Arena in Dublin as a guest for Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, though it was clear that his best performance days were some way behind him.

In September 2020 a new documentary, Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, was released Directed by Julien Temple and produced by Johnny Depp, it featured unseen archival footage from the band and MacGowan's family, as well as animation from illustrator Ralph Steadman.

In 2021 it was revealed by Mick Cronin of Irish rock indie band Cronin that MacGowan had recorded with them in May.

'Once he's in the studio, he's all guns blazing,' the drummer told the New York Times.

In November 2022 MacGowan released his first art book. The book, titled The Eternal Buzz and the Crock of Gold, included never-before-seen artwork, handwritten lyrics and school essays.

But things took a turn just one month later, when Clarke announced that he had returned to hospital.

'Please send prayers and healing vibes to @ShaneMacGowan. In hospital again and really hoping to get out asap!! Thank you,' she wrote on Twitter.

Clarke updated fans on his subsequent health battles, sharing photos of him in his hospital bed.

In July 2023 she wrote: 'I just wanted to thank everyone who is sending love and prayers for ?@ShaneMacGowan.

'We really appreciate it and bless all of you and anyone anywhere who is having health challenges! ?@poguesofficial.'

In November 2023 she shared a photo of MacGowan with tubes up his nose and a monitor clipped on to his ear.

She wrote: 'I just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone who has been messaging me and ?@ShaneMacGowan and thank you ?@spiderstacy? and Terry Woods for coming to visit him love and prayers for everyone who is struggling right now hang in there!'

Victoria told fans on X, formerly known as Twitter: 'Shane got out of the hospital!

'We are deeply and eternally grateful to all of the doctors and nurses and staff at St Vincent's it's the best!

'And special thanks to Tom Creagh and Brian Corscadden for your help.' 

Shane has been hospitalised a number of times since the diagnosis and was believed to have been admitted again in June. 

The family had hopes that Shane would be able to return home for the festive season. 

This week the star was overjoyed to receive a visit from singer Imelda May. 

Victoria shared an image of the two reuniting and thanked Imelda for the visit, saying: 'Shane is so happy to see Imelda!!'

Shane received a whole host of A-list visitors while he has been hospital, including country singer Daniel O'Donnell and Primal Scream legend Bobby Gillsepie.

Among those paying tribute to the legend included Derry Girls actor Siobhan McSweeney who hailed MacGown as 'the voice of London for us Irish'.

'When I was scared about moving here he lured me over with songs about chancers, drinkers, lovers, poets and scoundrels,' she said on X. 'That's the place for me, I thought!

'He also taught me how to miss home, whatever that may be. Damn shame, Shane.'

Irish President Michael D Higgins added there was 'particular poignancy' that the death of Shane MacGowan had followed closely that of Sinead O'Connor.

He said: 'Born on Christmas Day, there was perhaps some form of destiny which led Shane to writing Fairytale Of New York, the timeless quality of which will surely mean that it will be listened to every Christmas for the next century or more.

'Likewise songs like Rainy Night In Soho, A Pair Of Brown Eyes, If I Should Fall From Grace With God and so many others will live on far into the years and decades to come.

'I think too of Haunted, and the particular poignancy that both Shane and Sinead O'Connor have left us in such quick succession.'

He added: 'It was a great honour for me, as President of Ireland, to present Shane with a lifetime achievement award in the National Concert Hall in January 2018 as we marked his 60th birthday. A richly deserved honour.'

While Ireland's deputy premier Micheal Martin said he was 'devastated' by MacGowan's death, adding: 'An iconic musician talented in many genres, particularly influenced by his time in Tipperary.

'His passing is particularly poignant at this time of year as we listen to Fairytale Of New York - a song that resonates with all of us.'

Shane is survived by his wife Victoria, his sister Siobhan and father Maurice.

Sharing a statement online, the family told of their deep sorrow and heartbreak at the loss of the beloved singer.

They said: 'It is with the deepest sorrow and heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Shane MacGowan.

'Shane died peacefully at 3am this morning (30 November 2023) with his wife Victoria and family by his side.

'Prayers and the last rites were read which gave comfort to his family.

'He is survived by his wife Victoria, his sister Siobhan, his father, Maurice, family and a large circle of friends.

'Further details will be announced shortly but the family ask for privacy at this very sad time'.

Farewell to the Spirit of Christmas Plastered: Hellraiser Shane MacGowan defied the doctors so often he achieved a kind of immortal status. Aged 65, the Pogues star has passed away - decades later than anyone expected (including him)

By CHRISTOPHER STEVENS  

Farewell to the Spirit of Christmas Plastered. Shane MacGowan, the ravaged, staggering, foul-mouthed, broken-toothed rock star who co-wrote the best-loved festive karaoke song of all time, has died aged 65 – decades later than he or anyone else expected.

The former singer with punk-folk band The Pogues defied the doctors so often that he achieved a kind of immortal status.

Earlier this month, his devoted wife Victoria, who became his lover at 16 and stayed loyally at his side ever after, released photographs of him in a hospital bed. He was skeletal, paper-skinned but still flashing his reprehensible grin.

His beloved festive hit, Fairytale Of New York, will be bellowed out at pub parties across the land this year with more gusto than ever.

The lyrics are infamous: 'You're a bum, You're a punk, You're an old sl*t on junk, Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed. You scumbag, You maggot, You cheap lousy f****t, Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last.'

The belligerent former junkie, with a book of poetry in one hand and a bottle of Bushmills in the other, became the unlikely patron saint of Yuletide, after surviving heroin addiction, a high-speed fall from a car on a motorway and numerous booze-fuelled fights.

But, like a drunk on Christmas Eve whose personality flipped from raucous extrovert to maudlin crybaby at the flick of a switch, there was a surprising hidden side to Shane MacGowan.

For a start, he was born in England – outside Royal Tunbridge Wells, of all places.

In 1957, his parents were visiting dad Maurice's sister in Kent, when mum Therese went into labour unexpectedly. Shane, their first child, was born in Pembury maternity hospital.

He spent the first few weeks of his life sleeping in a drawer in his auntie's bedroom, before they returned to the crowded family farmhouse in Tipperary, Ireland.

Therese was a singer and imbued the boy with a passion for music. Maurice, a Dubliner, was a great reader, though all the family believed Shane's gift with words emerged after a bout of measles, aged four: 'The spots never came out, they went to my head and I went completely mad for a month. That's when I started making up stories and poems and songs.'

While he was growing up on the farm, both his parents were away working in England. Shane's aunts and uncles started him on Guinness when he was just four years old. When he was eight, he got drunk on whisky for the first time.

Rather than send him to the Christian Brothers school in Tipperary, his parents enrolled him in an English prep school, Holmewood House in Langton Green, Kent.

The villages around Tunbridge Wells were an unlikely hotbed of punk. Sid Vicious (whose name was then John Ritchie) was in the same year at the nearby Sandown Court school.

As a London schoolboy in 1971, he discovered marijuana, grew his hair long like a hippie, and got hooked on prescription tranquillisers.

After a brief spell at art college, he suffered a drug-induced breakdown and spent six months in a mental hospital, being weaned off Valium.

When he emerged, he hacked off his hair and dyed the spikey remnants white. His name, he announced, was now Shane O'Hooligan.

He launched his own band, The Nipple Erectors. Known as The Nips, they released four singles but failed to dent the charts. MacGowan's next band, Poguemahone, appeared to be destined for equal obscurity.

After a 1984 tour supporting The Clash they landed a record deal – as the Pogues.

Elvis Costello produced their second album, Rum, Sodomy And The Lash, and though he and the band grew to loathe each other during the recording, it yielded their first hit single – a dirge called Dirty Old Town.

Goading them in the bar at Dublin's Blooms Hotel, Costello bet the band they couldn't write a Christmas song without turning into a schmaltzy pop variety act, all twinkles and knitwear.

Winning the bet took nearly two years, but in December 1987, Fairytale Of New York was No 2 in the UK, No 1 in Ireland.

Sell-out tours followed, but MacGowan found life on the road gruelling. Sustaining himself with alcohol and drugs, he became increasingly paranoid.

In 1991, after too many missed flights and drunken collapses, he was kicked out of his own band. He retaliated by forming The Popes, effectively a tribute band to himself.

Famous for his mouthful of rotten teeth, in 2015 he underwent extensive dental surgery to replace them with implants.

He married his wife, the music journalist Victoria Mary Clarke, in 2018. By then, they'd been together, with periodic break-ups, for 36 years.

She became his carer as a series of medical problems saw him hospitalised. MacGowan used a wheelchair since 2016, when he fell and broke his pelvis while dancing.

Actor Johnny Depp, who was best man at his wedding, calls him 'one of the most important poets of the 20th century'. But it is that rebellious, contrary, angry, lyrical Christmas ballad which will always be his great achievement.

That angered him, because he claimed not to like Christmas. 'I can't stand all that sort of stuff. It's gross.'

'Not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable. Some have to be evil or nasty to tell the story effectively. Fairytale of New York is a fine record,' he admitted, 'but the Christmas song I like best is by Nat King Cole. Ours is good but his is better.'