Shane MacGowan, an English-born singer, songwriter, and artist, possessed a net worth of $5 million at the time of his passing in November 2023. Renowned as the lead vocalist and songwriter for the punk band The Pogues, MacGowan contributed to several studio albums with the band, including “Red Roses for Me” (1984), “Rum Sodomy & the Lash” (1985), “If I Should Fall from Grace with God” (1988), “Peace and Love” (1989), and “Hell’s Ditch” (1990), as well as the live album “The Pogues in Paris: 30th Anniversary Concert at the Olympia” (2012).
Following his expulsion from The Pogues in 1991 due to unprofessional and unreliable conduct, MacGowan went on to establish Shane MacGowan and The Popes, releasing albums such as “The Snake” (1994), “The Crock of Gold” (1997), “The Rare Oul’ Stuff” (2001), and “Across the Broad Atlantic: Live on Paddy’s Day — New York and Dublin” (2002).
In 2005, Shane made a permanent return to The Pogues, leading to the re-release of their 1987 single “Fairytale of New York.” This iconic track climbed to #3 on the UK Singles Chart. Apart from his work with The Pogues, MacGowan lent his musical talent to various collaborations, contributing to songs by artists such as Nick Cave, Sinéad O’Connor, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Dropkick Murphys. In 2010, he founded the band The Shane Gang.
MacGowan’s artistic pursuits extended to the film and television industry. He appeared in movies like “Straight to Hell Returns” (1987), “Eat the Rich” (1987), and “The Libertine” (2004), as well as the TV movie “The Ghosts of Oxford Street” (1991). In a more personal venture, he starred alongside his then-fiancée Victoria Mary Clarke in the 2009 RTÉ reality series “Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own.”
Collaborating with Clarke once again, Shane co-wrote the memoir “A Drink With Shane MacGowan” in 2001. Additionally, in 2022, he published the limited edition book “The Eternal Buzz and The Crock of Gold,” a unique compilation described as “the first publication of the art of Shane MacGowan with handwritten lyrics and unpublished writing.”
Early Life
Shane MacGowan, born on December 25, 1957, in Pembury, Kent, England, is the son of Irish immigrants Therese and Maurice MacGowan. Raised in London and Brighton, with summers in County Tipperary, Shane’s mother was a former model, singer, and Irish dancer, while his father worked at C&A department store. Shane’s younger sister, Siobhan, is a songwriter, musician, and journalist.
MacGowan received a literature scholarship from Holmewood House, graduating in 1971. He then attended London’s Westminster School but was expelled in his sophomore year for drug-related reasons. In 1976, at a Clash concert, Shane’s earlobe was damaged by Jane Crockford, leading to a published photo with the headline “Cannibalism at Clash Gig.” Later that year, he joined The Nipple Erectors, a punk band later renamed The Nips.
The Pogues
In 1982, Shane founded The Pogues, named after the Irish slang “pogue mahone” meaning “kiss my arse.” The band’s debut album, “Red Roses for Me,” released in October 1984, achieved Silver certification in the U.K. Their subsequent albums, “Rum Sodomy & the Lash” (1985), “If I Should Fall from Grace with God” (1988), and “Peace and Love” (1989), all went Gold in the U.K. “If I Should Fall from Grace with God” featured the hit “Fairytale of New York” (with Kirsty MacColl), topping the Irish Singles Chart.
Following the release of the Silver album “Hell’s Ditch” in 1990, MacGowan was ousted from The Pogues in 1991. He then formed Shane MacGowan and The Popes in 1992. The band released EPs like “The Church of the Holy Spook” (1994), “My Way” (1996), and “Christmas Party EP” (1996), along with studio albums including “The Snake” (1994) and “The Crock of Gold” (1997). In 1997, MacGowan participated in the charity single “Perfect Day,” raising £2,125,000 for Children in Need and spending three weeks at #1 in the U.K.
In 2001, MacGowan rejoined The Pogues for a sold-out tour, making a permanent return in May 2005. In 2006, “NME” readers ranked him #50 in the “Rock’s 50 Greatest Heroes” list. The Pogues’ last known live performance was at the Fête du bruit dans Landerneau festival in France in August 2014.
In a 2015 “Vice” interview, MacGowan mentioned their occasional strain as a touring band. In 2010, he formed The Shane Gang, performing at Ireland’s The Red Hand Rocks festival in June 2011. MacGowan later joined Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders at Dublin’s RDS Arena in June 2019. In October 2022, London’s Andipa Gallery hosted an art exhibition titled “The Eternal Buzz & The Crock of Gold Exhibition,” featuring MacGowan’s work.
Personal Life
Shane married journalist Victoria Mary Clarke on November 28, 2018, in Copenhagen after over 30 years together and an 11-year engagement. MacGowan has referred to himself as a ‘religious fanatic,’ and he has described his faith as “free-thinking Catholicism.”
In 2001, singer Sinéad O’Connor reported Shane to London police for drug possession trying to get him to stop using heroin. MacGowan was at first angry, but he later credited the incident with helping him kick the drug. Shane used a wheelchair starting 2015 until his death because of fracturing his pelvis when he fell as he was coming out of a music studio in Dublin. He told ‘Vice’ later that year:
“It was a fall and I fell the wrong way. I broke my pelvis, which is the worst thing you can do. I’m lame in one leg, I can’t walk around the room without a crutch. I am getting better, but it’s taking a very long time. It’s the longest I’ve ever taken to recover from an injury. And I’ve had a lot of injuries.”
MacGowan has mostly been described as having some nasty teeth, and after losing all his natural teeth, he got a new set of teeth in 2015. This process took nine hours and was documented for the hour-long TV special “Shane MacGowan: A Wreck Reborn.”
Shane started drinking alcohol when he was only 5 years old because of his parents giving him Guinness to enable him to fall asleep.
In 2016, Clarke wrote in the ‘Independent’ that MacGowan was sober “for the first time in years.” She said:
“Shane has been a singer all his life, singing in bars and clubs and other venues where people go to drink and have fun. If anyone is not drinking, it is unusual in these places. So the drinking has not just been a recreational activity, his whole career has revolved around it and, indeed, been both enhanced and simultaneously inhibited by it.”
Victoria then said a few months earlier, MacGowan had a “lengthy hospital stay” while suffering from pneumonia and excessive hip pain. With the hospital stay came a ‘total detox,’ and Shane continued to avoid alcohol once he was released.
In December 2022, MacGowan was hospitalized after he contracted an infection, and on New Year’s Eve, he posted an Instagram video where he informed his fans that he was “suffering from encephalitis,” an inflammation of the brain.
Sadly, Shane died on November 30, 2023, at the age of 65.
Honors And Awards
In 2018, Shane got the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award. In January 2018, a concert gala was hosted at Dublin’s National Concert Hall in honor of MacGowan’s 60th birthday, and Irish President Michael D. Higgins gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Pogues got a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 Meteor Ireland Music Awards.