Thanks to the enduring allure of “Fairytale of New York,” the spirit of the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan is in the air once more. But MacGowan’s impact and legacy were also heard onstage in Dublin last night. At the city’s 13,000-seat 3Arena, surviving members of the Pogues commemorated the 40th anniversary …
Read More »Pogues Announce First Tour Since Shane MacGowan's Death
When Shane MacGowan died in November 2023, he left a great, big, romantic poet-shaped hole in music. Now, a year later, the late Irish songwriter’s band, the Pogues, have announced their first tour without him. The Pogues announced Tuesday that they will play seven shows in May 2025 in the …
Read More »Watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Cover 'A Rainy Night in Soho' in Ireland
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their Sunday night set in Kilkenny, Ireland, by covering the 1986 Pogues classic “A Right Night in Soho” as a tribute to the late Shane MacGowan. It marked the first time in their history they covered a Pogues song. When MacGowan …
Read More »Ireland Filled With Shane MacGowan's Songs on Day of His Funeral
Thousands of mourners converged on St. Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, Ireland, on Friday to pay their respects to the late Pogues frontman, Shane MacGowan. MacGowan died of complications from pneumonia on Nov. 30. Those in attendance included Nick Cave, Johnny Depp, Bob Geldof, and Ireland’s President, Michael …
Read More »Bruce Springsteen: 'They'll Be Singing Shane MacGowan's Songs 100 Years From Now'
Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to one of his “all-time favorite writers,” the former Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, in an Instagram tribute on Friday. “The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock & roll canon,” he wrote. “I …
Read More »Shane MacGowan, Pogues Lead Singer and Raspy Voice of Irish Punk Rock, Dead at 65
Shane MacGowan, the sandpapery-voiced former Pogues frontman who served as the bridge between traditional Irish folk music and punk rock, died on Thursday at the age of 65. MacGowan’s wife, Victoria Clarke, confirmed the musician’s death in a statement. The BBC wrote that MacGowan “died peacefully at 3.30am this morning …
Read More »Flashback: See Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl Sing 'Fairytale of New York' With the Pogues in 1988
Nobody in the history of music ever sounded quite as decadently downtrodden (or whiskey-drowned, -sodden) as Shane MacGowan on “Fairytale of New York,” the soppy Christmas carol the Pogues‘ first released as a single in 1987. But as the luck of the Irish would have it, Kirsty MacColl was fortuitously …
Read More »The So So Glos Enlisted a Pogue to Beat the Hell Out of Christmas
It’s been more than 30 years since the Pogues kicked the shit out of Christmas with their sleazy holiday classic, “Fairytale of New York.” Now, former member Peter Richard “Spider” Stacy has teamed up with New York punk stalwarts the So So Glos for a new tongue-in-cheek Christmas carol: “This …
Read More »Darryl Hunt, Longtime Pogues Bassist and Songwriter, Dead at 72
Darryl Hunt, the longtime bassist and occasional songwriter for the legendary Anglo-Irish punk outfit the Pogues, died Monday, Aug. 8. He was 72. The Pogues confirmed Hunt’s death on Instagram Tuesday, Aug. 9, writing “We are saddened beyond words. Our Darryl passed away yesterday afternoon in London.” No cause of …
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