Shane MacGowan of The Pogues Dead at 65

There was sad news from the world of music this week with the announcement on Thursday that Shane MacGowan, the longtime front man of the Celtic folk-punk group The Pogues, has died at the age of 65. The announcement was made in an Instagram post by this wife, Victoria Mary Clarke.

Shane MacGowan

"I don't know how to say this so I am just going to say it. 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," Clarke said. "I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures."

The Pogues are perhaps best known for their 1987 Christmas classic "Fairytale of New York," which has been cited as the most played holiday song of the Century in the United Kingdom. According to legend, the song was written in response to a challenge by Elvis Costello, who wagered the group couldn't write a Christmas song by themselves. The song, written by MacGowan and fellow Pogues member Jem Finer,  took two years to complete, but Costello later admitted he was wrong.

I included "Fairytale of New York" in a special bonus mix I put together in 2012 called Christmas Is Cancelled This Year. It is a fantasy collection of particularly dark songs based on the premise that Mitt Romney defeated President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. 

Rest in peace.