Shane MacGowan | |
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 MacGowan at the WOMAD festival, Yokohama, 1991 | |
| Born | Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan 25 December 1957 Pembury, Kent, England |
| Died | 30 November 2023 (aged 65) Dublin, Ireland |
| Other names | Shane O'Hooligan |
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| Years active | 1977–2023 |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Siobhan MacGowan (sister) |
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| Formerly of | |
| Website | shanemacgowan |
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 1957 – 30 November 2023) was a British-born Irish[a] singer-songwriter, musician and poet best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. Noted for his heavy alcohol and drug use as well as his exceptional songwriting talent, MacGowan wrote lyrics that frequently focused on the Irish diaspora experience.
Born in Kent, England, to Irish parents, he 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 in London 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, he co-founded the Pogues—originally called Pogue Mahone, an anglicisation of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse"—who fused punk influences with traditional Irish music. He rose to international fame as 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 bandmate Jem Finer, he co-wrote the Christmas hit single "Fairytale of New York" (1987). Recorded as a duet with Kirsty MacColl, the song remains a perennial Christmas favourite in the UK and Ireland and was certified quintuple platinum in the UK in 2022.
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 recorded his last two studio albums, The Snake (1994) and The Crock of Gold (1997). In 2001, he rejoined the Pogues for reunion shows and remained with the group until it dissolved in 2014. In January 2018, the National Concert Hall in Dublin held a gala concert to celebrate his 60th birthday, at which 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.
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