“He was a one-off… I don’t know whether he realised he was a poet but he was a poet.”
Earlier this week, news broke that Irish music legend Shane MacGowan passed away at the age of 65 – with The Late Late Show devoting a whole segment last night (1 December) to honouring the Pogues frontman.
The episode kicked off with a beautiful rendition of the band’s single ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’, which was performed by Glen Hansard and the Pogues’ Terry Woods, alongside Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Frames), Liam Ó Maonlaí (Hothouse Flowers) and Steve Wickham (The Waterboys).
You can watch that performance right here:
Irish artists pay tribute to Shane MacGowan in powerful Late Late segment
That was before host Patrick Kielty paid tribute to the singer-songwriter, saying:
“I’m honoured to say that we are beginning our show tonight with some stories, some memories, some laughter and love with some of his friends, his band members and partners in crime who knew him best and will miss him most.
“But before we do that, from all of us here on The Late Late Show who were mesmerised by his talent and, through his music, thought we knew him too, we’d like to send our love and our strength to Shane’s wife Victoria, his sister Siobhan and his dad Morris who have lost so much more than the rest of us tonight.
“And on behalf of everyone who like me grew up on his music and on behalf of a generation of Irish people home and abroad who were gifted a soundtrack to our lives which allowed us to feel part of something so much bigger we would like to say thank you Shane. Rest in peace.”
After a montage of moments from the late singer-songwriter life, several artist friends of MacGowan gathered on the Late Late’s stage to honour the Pogues frontman.
His band mate Terry Woods said of MacGowan: “He was a one-off… I don’t know whether he realised he was a poet but he was a poet.
“I mean, you could have a conversation with him and you’d say something to him and maybe two or three days or a week later, you’d hear what you said in a song.
“And I used to say: ‘Why couldn’t I think of that?’ But he heard it. He had a great ear for words.”
Woods also told Kielty: “[Shane] was a very compassionate man. He wasn’t this hard drunken guy that some people think he was.”
Hansard, meanwhile, recounted a funny anecdote about a run-in he once had with the legendary singer-songwriter:
“He came to me one time and he said: ‘Are you the eejit who murders The Dubliners?’ and I said: ‘Are you the eejit who murders the Pogues?’ And it was like that was the moment that we kind of [clicked].
“He had that old punk thing and there’s a lot of sad punks in Ireland and England and all over the world tonight.”
Moya Brennan of Clannad fame talked about visiting MacGowan just a few weeks ago when he was in hospital, saying: “He was frail but his spirit was just amazing. He would always put a smile on your face.”
Also part of the segment was actor Aidan Gillen, who discussed how in recent years he became friends with MacGowan and his wife Victoria.
Speaking about the pair’s relationship, the Game of Thrones star said: “It was a big love story. They are kind of like an iconic rock and roll couple but not Sid and Nancy – more John and Yoko than Sid and Nancy, really.
“And just from watching them, if there was ever a couple that I thought there souls would go on entwined forever, through time, beyond death, it’s Shane and Victoria.”
You can watch that Late Late segment honouring MacGowan below:
Read more:
- The Pogues slam The Guardian’s obituary for Shane MacGowan as ‘terrible’
- The Pogues insulting Laurence Fox is being reshared following Shane MacGowan’s death
- Fairytale of New York’: Inside the disputed origins of classic Pogues song
- Calls for Fairytale of New York to be Christmas number one in tribute to Shane MacGowan’
- Shane MacGowan has died at the age of 65
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