Shane MacGowan, the larger than life frontman of The Pogues, has died. He was 65.
“It is with the deepest sorrow and heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Shane MacGowan,” read a statement posted on the band’s X account on behalf of MacGowan’s wife, sister, and father. No cause of death was given, but the statement said MacGowan “died peacefully at 3am” on Thursday morning “with his wife Victoria by his side.”
The singer, whose 1987 hit Fairytale of New York remains a beloved Christmas ballad, had only recently been discharged from hospital in Dublin in time for the holidays, according to the BBC. MacGowan had suffered from multiple health issues in recent years and was last year diagnosed with encephalitis, a serious condition in which the brain swells.
