Shane MacGowan

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MacGowan drew upon his Irish heritage when founding The Pogues and changed his early punk style for a more traditional sound with tutoring from his extended family. Many of his songs are influenced by Irish nationalism, Irish history, the experiences of the Irish diaspora (particularly in England and the United States), and London life in general. These influences are documented in the biography Rake at the Gates of Hell: Shane MacGowan in Context. He has often cited the 19th-century Irish poet James Clarence Mangan and playwright Brendan Behan as influences. Between 1985 and 1987, he co-wrote "Fairytale of New York", which he performed with Kirsty MacColl. In the following years MacGowan and The Pogues released several albums.

After The Pogues fired MacGowan for unprofessional behaviour mid-tour, he formed a new band, Shane MacGowan and The Popes, recording two studio albums, a live album, three tracks on The Popes Outlaw Heaven (2010) and a live DVD, and touring internationally. In 1997, MacGowan appeared on Lou Reed's "Perfect Day", covered by numerous artists in aid of Children in Need. It was the UK's number one single for three weeks, in two separate spells. Selling over a million copies, the record contributed £2,125,000 to the charity's highest fundraising total in six years. From December 2003 up to May 2005, Shane MacGowan and The Popes toured extensively in the UK, Ireland and Europe.

The Pogues and MacGowan reformed for a sell-out tour in 2001 and each year from 2004 to 2009 for further tours, including headline slots at Guilfest in England and the Azkena Rock Festival in the Basque Country. In May 2005, MacGowan rejoined The Pogues permanently. That same year, The Pogues re-released "Fairytale of New York" to raise funds for the Justice For Kirsty Campaign and Crisis at Christmas. The single was the best-selling festive-themed single of 2005, reaching number 3 in the UK Charts that year.

In 2006, he was voted 50th in the NME Rock Heroes List. He has been seen many times with The Libertines and Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty. MacGowan has joined Babyshambles on stage. Other famous friends include Johnny Depp, who starred in the video for "That Woman's Got Me Drinking", and Joe Strummer, who referred to MacGowan as "one of the best writers of the century" in an interview featured on the videogram release "Live at the Town And Country Club" from 1988. Strummer occasionally joined MacGowan and The Pogues on stage (and briefly replaced MacGowan as lead singer after his sacking from the band). He has also worked with Nick Cave and joined him on stage.

MacGowan is the subject of several books and paintings. In 2000, Tim Bradford used the title Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive? for a humorous book about Ireland and Irish culture.Shaman Shane — The Wounded Healer by Stephan Martin brands Shane as a latter-day London-Irish spirit-raiser and exorcist. This commentary is found in the book Myth of Return — The Paintings of Brian Whelan and Collected Commentaries. London Irish artist Brian Whelan paints Shane (for example Boy From The County Hell), his works are featured on Shane's official website, and is also the illustrator of The Popes Outlaw Heaven cover.

About his future with The Pogues, in a 24 December 2015 interview with Vice magazine, when the interviewer asked whether the band were still active, Shane MacGowan said: "We're not, no," saying that, since their 2001 reunion happened, "I went back with [The] Pogues and we grew to hate each other all over again," adding: "I don't hate the band at all — they're friends. I like them a lot. We were friends for years before we joined the band. We just got a bit sick of each other. We're friends as long as we don't tour together. I've done a hell of a lot of touring. I've had enough of it."

In 2010, MacGowan played impromptu shows in Dublin with a new five-piece backing band named The Shane Gang, including In Tua Nua rhythm section Paul Byrne (drums) and Jack Dublin (bass), with manager Joey Cashman on whistle. In November 2010, this line up went to Lanzarote to record a new album. MacGowan and The Shane Gang performed at The Red Hand Rocks music festival in the Patrician Hall, Carrickmore County Tyrone in June 2011.

MacGowan made a return to stage on 13 June 2019 at the RDS Arena in Dublin as a guest for Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders.

Following on from the success of Feis Liverpool 2018's finale in which he was joined by names such as Imelda May, Paddy Moloney, Albert Hammond Jr and many more, MacGowan was announced to appear on 7 July alongside a host of guests for the Feis Liverpool 2019's finale but the event was ultimately cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales and funding issues. Feis Liverpool is the UK's largest celebration of Irish music and culture.

In 2020, MacGowan reportedly returned to the studio to record several new songs with the Irish indie band Cronin led by brothers Johnny and Mick Cronin.

In 2001, MacGowan coauthored the autobiographical book A Drink with Shane MacGowan with Victoria Mary Clarke.

MacGowan appeared in an episode of Fair City, shown on 28 December 2008.

In 2009, MacGowan starred in the RTÉ reality show Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own, as he and his now-wife Victoria Mary Clarke endeavoured to grow their own food in their own garden.

In 2010, MacGowan offered a piece of unusual art to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to auction off to support their services to children: a drawing on a living room door. It ended up earning €1,602 for the charity.

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