The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan has died aged 65, following years of ill-health, with his wife Victoria Mary Clarke sharing a touching tribute to the singer-songwriter
Shane tied the knot with his long-term love Victoria in an intimate ceremony in 2018 after proposing following 32 years of dating. The couple were surrounded by a few close friends and family in the small ceremony in Copenhagen, with Johnn Depp serenading the couple on guitar.
The Pogues frontman met Victoria when she was 16 in London and previously admitted that they both felt they were “destined to be together”. The couple briefly split in the early 2000s due to his battle with substance abuse but later rekindled their romance.
Shane was using a wheelchair at the time of the ceremony after damaging his back with a fall years previously. The Pogues frontman has battled several health woes over the years and Victoria has remained by his side.
Ahead of their wedding, the Irish journalist explained in the Irish Independent why they had taken over 32 years to tie the knot. “Marriage is a scary business, a big commitment,” she said.
“You might know that you have met ‘The One’, the minute you lay eyes on them across a crowded bar. You might have been mesmerised, enchanted, and entirely convinced that you couldn’t live without them. But you have to be certain.”
She continued: “When you meet ‘The One’, you have a choice. You can dive in, marry them while you are infatuated with each other and hope for the best. Or you can wait until you are sure that the honeymoon phase has worn off and you are seeing each other in the light of having lived, no longer young, beautiful and indestructible.”
Shane died aged 65 following a recent hospital stay after being diagnosed with encephalitis. Victoria said her husband “met the world to me” in a heartbreaking tribute.
Posting on Instagram, she wrote: “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.
“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. There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world.
“Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your presence in this world you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music. You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much. You meant the world to me.”