Great news everyone! Shane MacGowan has joined TikTok, with the frontman of The Pogues hailed as a legend, though others have shared concern for his health. Check out his first ever post in the video below.
MacGowan and his band rose to prominence with their unique style which mixed Irish traditional music with punk rock, earning a legion of fans in the 1980s and well beyond.
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The Pogues are perhaps best known to most for their Christmas hit ‘Fairytale of New York’ which featured Kirsty McColl singing with the band, but they’ve got so many more classic songs beyond that.
Anyway, the lead singer of the band – whose name derives from the Irish ‘póg mo thóin’ which translates as ‘kiss my arse’ – has now shifted dramatically into the 21st century and joined up on TikTok.
It’s great to see Shane online and enjoying himself, and most of the comments underneath his posts on the social video app have been from people expressing their gratitude for his contribution to music, but others have also been registering their concern for his health, because he does seem a little frail.
The 64-year-old made his introduction to TikTok seated in a chair and seeming to shake a little bit, announcing: "Welcome to Shane MacGowan on TikTok.
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"I hope you enjoy, God bless.”
Fans were quick to jump into the comments and state their love for the man and his band, with one writing: "Fairytale of New York is still the best Christmas song xxx love to you and your family."
Another hailed him as the ‘best songwriter of all time’ with a third writing: “You have no idea just how epic you made Christmas Eve in our house growing up.
“Thank you!”
Someone else commented: “God bless you Shane thank you for the memories and the great music.”
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Yet another comment read: “Absolute legend of a man and talent!
“The Pogues will always be on my playlists!
“But now time for Fairytale of New York!”
Well, Christmas is approaching fast.
However, some others have commented that Shane maybe isn’t looking the best, and it’s well documented that he has had a fraught relationship with alcohol over the years, as well as reportedly struggling with other drugs.
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“So sad to see him like this,” one said.
Another said: “OMG what happened to him?”
Shane has been in a wheelchair since a fall a few years back, and famously lost all his teeth before getting a new set in 2009.
Recently, MacGowan’s wife Victoria Clarke said that he became sober after a stay in hospital following pneumonia and a hip injury, continuing that once he returned home.
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Whether he’s sober at the minute we can’t say, and neither is it really any of our business.
In 2020, a film was produced by friend Johnny Depp about his life called Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan which featured unseen archive footage of the band, as well as a story of MacGowan’s life and tributes from his famous friends.
Topics: Celebrity, Music, TikTok, Christmas, Ireland, UK News
Tom Wood