Shane MacGowan ‘pushed the boundaries of what humans can do to their bodies’, says wife
Shane MacGowan’s widow said she had worried about his death for 35 years because he “pushed the boundaries of what humans can do to their bodies”.
The Pogues frontman, best known for the classic Christmas hit song Fairytale Of New York, died “peacefully” last week at the age of 65.
Irish journalist Victoria Mary Clarke told ITV‘s Good Morning Britain: “I loved standing on the side of the stage watching him. It wasn’t always easy, as you will know, because he pushed the boundaries and he was reckless and he was very unconventional.
Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke in 2017
“So it was like watching a racing driver and not knowing if they were going to crash, watching him going on stage.”
MacGowan had been diagnosed with encephalitis following his latest bout of ill-health and after years of alcohol and substance abuse.
Ms Clarke, 57, continued: “I think for most of you watching, the biggest fear you probably have is that you’re going to lose a loved one.
“And it’s going to happen, you can’t really get around that, you all are going to lose a loved one.
“And I know that, for me, I spent many, many years, probably at least 35 years, worrying about losing Shane because he just pushed the boundaries so much of what humans can do to their bodies.
“So I dreaded that, and I thought that I would fall apart, I thought I would die, I thought I would not be able to speak, I thought I’d be comatose or on drugs myself or something like that.
“So I just want you all to know that it’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be. And there’s a huge amount of love that comes your way when you lose someone, that you didn’t really expect. And in my case, you know, I’ve been overwhelmed by how much love and support there is.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
A look at Shane MacGowan’s life
When Ms Clarke was asked what MacGowan would have felt about the outpouring of support, she said: “Me and Shane, we spent most of our lives in recent years sitting at home watching The Crown.
“We didn’t really go out, so we didn’t know what was going on in the outside world very much.
“We had a very quiet life, very, very happy, and we didn’t want anything else. We just wanted to sit here together watching telly.
“But to know now that there’s all these people out there who feel so strongly about him, you lose with one hand, but you receive with the other, there’s an equal and opposite sort of reaction.”
Pic: Mark Large/ANL/Shutterstock
The song Fairytale of New York is now battling to score the coveted Christmas number one spot, a feat not achieved when it was originally released in 1987, having peaked at number two in the charts.
Ms Clarke said MacGowan “wouldn’t mind too much if Fairytale goes to number one”.
“I don’t think it was ever that important to him, because I think that he really appreciated the fact that so many people love it and it means so much to so many people, and being number one isn’t really all about being appreciated.”
Read more on this story:
A raw talent, and a forever connection with Christmas
Kiefer Sutherland anecdote about fight resurfaces
MacGowan ‘determined to live only a few days ago’
Fairytale Of New York features a duet between English singer Kirsty MacColl – who died in December 2000 – and MacGowan.
It was originally written by MacGowan with fellow Pogues founder Jem Finer.
The song has returned to the UK Christmas Top 40 every year since 2005.
MacGowan’s death was met with an outpouring of tributes, including from Bruce Springsteen, who said people would be “singing Shane’s songs 100 years from now”.
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
Swift’s final London show was the ‘best’
The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
Her new chart record
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike