'Fairytale of New York' hits number one on the charts following the death of Shane MacGowan

'Fairytale of New York' has hit number one on the iTunes UK charts following the death of Shane MacGowan.

The lead singer of The Pogues passed away last week after being discharged from hospital.

The 65-year-old had been battling health issues for months and his wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, was the one to break the sad news to the world.

She said: "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."

The Pogues' most renowned song was already climbing the charts as the festive season got into full swing.

However, it has now managed to reach the top.

The legendary song has never been Christmas number one in the years since it was released in 1988.

Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

However, Victoria Mary Clarke is hoping fans continue to play it all the way up until December 25 to give MacGowan the send off he deserves.

She told BBC Radio 4: “It would be nice, wouldn’t it? It should be the Christmas No 1, it absolutely should. I am very much in favour of that.”

Shane's birthday is on Christmas Day and he would have turned 66 if he was still alive.

Victoria also explained how the song resembled her relationship with Shane.

“It’s not [the romance] that’s gone wrong – in the song they still love each other – but life has gone wrong," she explained.

"That’s a bit similar to our story.

"We were both very affected by his addiction but you can still love, even though you are in that situation, and you can be very desperately unhappy as well as love.”

Topics: Music, Celebrity

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie