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Shane MacGowan, the frontman and main songwriter for the Pogues, led a life of addiction. He co-founded the band in 1982, mixing punk rock with traditional Irish music. Nine years later, he was kicked out of the group because of his drug use and drinking but returned in 2001 and remained with the Pogues until they disbanded.

This tribute is one of 44 stories about significant figures in the music industry who died in 2023. After MacGowan's passing, Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, described him as "one of music's greatest lyricists."

MacGowan's "Fairytale of New York" has become one of the United Kingdom's most popular Christmastime songs. To hear it, and watch MacGowan and English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl act out the story, go to this video.

In this episode's chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Also in the chapters, you'll see the cover of "A Drink with Shane MacGowan," written by MacGowan and his wife, Irish journalist Victoria Mary Clarke. It's available in paperback on Amazon.

Speaking of tributes, Clarke wrote a moving one to MacGowan. Here's a link.

Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime writer and editor, wrote and recorded the tribute in this episode and the others in the series. Sheldon also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to my show, available on YouTube and in various podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.