Shane MacGowan’s widow reacts to Wham! beating The Pogues to Christmas Number One

Sinead O’Connor‘s death has been confirmed.The Irish music legend died at the age of 56 last July. At the time, police confirmed that she was found unresponsive at her home in London and was pronounced dead at the scene.No medical cause for her death was given at the time, with London Inner South Coroner’s Court saying a post-mortem would be conducted and the results could take several weeks.Now, the coroner has confirmed she died of natural causes and said it was no longer investigating her death, reports Sky News.She was laid to rest at a ceremony in the Irish town of Bray last August, with Bob Geldof and Bono among those paying tribute at her funeral.It was also reported that a heartwarming tribute had been installed on cliffs overlooking the coast town – designed by Dublin-based creative agency The Tenth Man.The message showed the words ‘Eire’, the Irish name for Ireland, and ‘Sinéad’ joined by a heart.

Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor this March.The tribute concert, dubbed ‘Sinéad & Shane at Carnegie Hall’, will take place on March 20, with limited VIP packages already on sale via its website – general admission passes go on sale January 22. The Carnegie Hall concert will see some of MacGowan’s and O’Connor’s musical friends pay homage to their legacy with covers of their songs.A post shared by DROPKICK MURPHYS (@dropkickmurphys)Billed to perform so far are Dropkick Murphys, Cat Power, David Gray, Amanda Palmer, Glen Hansard, Eugene Hütz, Gordon Gano, The Mountain Goats, Bettye Lavette, Julia Cumming, Kat Edmonson and the Resistance Revival Chorus.

Shane MacGowan’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, has revealed that she is in grief counselling following the death of her husband.The Irish musician and iconic frontman of The Pogues died “peacefully” in hospital from pneumonia on November 30. He was 65 years old.

Nearly 40 years after it topped the UK Christmas pop chart and made millions of pounds for charity, Band Aid’s charity anthem has come under fresh fire for its lyrics, which critics say perpetuate racist and patronising stereotypes of African people.

Harry Hill has re-shared Shane MacGowan‘s festive cameo from the 2010 Christmas special of TV Burp. The late Pogues frontman appeared on the show to sing the Irish band’s Christmas classic ‘Fairytale Of New York’, but in a hilarious, quintessentially TV Burp twist, the performance ended up becoming a duet with a giant beluga whale who squeaked along in place of what would have been Kirsty MacColl‘s parts.Despite the audience being in hysterics, MacGowan plays it completely straight, carrying on with his performance as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.Hill has been posting to his Instagram account every day of December in a series of posts called ‘Mattvent’, where he shares a photo each day of a rogue mattress found in an odd place alongside old clips from TV Burp, which aired on Saturday nights between 2001 and 2012.Check out the clip of MacGowan’s appearance below:A post shared by Harry Hill (@mrharryhill)In a further Instagram post, Hill shared some extracts from his memoir Fight! where he recounted the experience of having MacGowan on the show.Hill had come up with the idea of MacGowan singing ‘Fairytale Of New York’ with a beluga whale played by a runner, but had been told by his producer Spencer that he was “having a laugh” and that there would be “no way he’s going to say yes to that!’”In the book, he wrote: “His agent explained to Spencer that Shane got a huge number of requests every Christmas to sing his Christmas hit and that he always turned them down.

Last Christmas by Wham! has made pop history, topping the Christmas chart for the first time since it was released almost four decades ago.

Wham! have earned the Christmas Number One with their iconic holiday hit ‘Last Christmas’ after attempting to land the spot for 39 years.The track was penned and produced by the late George Michael with the aim of landing the Christmas Number One in 1984. However, ‘Last Christmas’ was kept off the top spot upon release by Band-Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, a track that would go on to become the second best-selling single of all time.Today, almost four decades later, ‘Last Christmas’ has earned the festive top spot.

Wham! have secured the Christmas 2023 number one single with Last Christmas, having missed out on the title for 39 years. The pop duo, comprised of the late George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, landed the top UK chart spots for their first and second albums and also found success with a number of hits – including Last Christmas in December 1984.

The Libertines have covered The Pogues‘ ‘Fairy Tale Of New York’ in tribute to the band’s late frontman, Shane MacGowan.The band – comprised of Pete Doherty, Carl Barât, John Hassall and Gary Powell – shared a video on their official Instagram page of Barât playing the famous Christmas tune on the piano with both him and Doherty singing along. The caption of the video read: “RIP Shane, this one’s for you matey x”.Two days later, they posted another video of the whole band performing ‘Fairy Tale Of New York’ while on stage during one of their intimate shows.” Another one for Shane x,” read the caption.MacGowan was laid to rest on December 8 after he died from pneumonia in hospital, aged 65, on November 30.

David Byrne has curated a Christmas playlist which features The Pogues, Phoebe Bridgers, Prince and more.Created as part of NPR’s Fresh Air series, the 19-track playlist spans different genres with songs to get anyone fully in the holiday spirit. Byrne described the playlist as “something that will bring a little joy to the holidays.”While speaking to NPR, the former Talking Heads frontman explained why the band never wanted to make a holiday album.

NME about how her campaign is about “how climate change affects us all”.Louise Harris released the stirring ‘We Tried’ in November, with the track already having topped the UK iTunes singles chart. Broadcaster Chris Packham has got behind her bid for a Christmas hit, while iconic musician and producer Brian Eno describing the song as “a powerful weapon”.Harris, 25, from Hertfordshire, was arrested after performing the track at a peaceful protest outside Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s home at the end of November.

Wham! taking the lead for the peak position on the charts.The news follows a neck-and-neck race between the iconic ‘80s pop duo Wham! And Eurovision star Sam Ryder over the past week, with their respective songs ‘Last Christmas’ [1986] and ‘You’re Christmas To Me’ [2023].At the first look at the race last week, just 42 chart units stood between the two taking the top spot on the UK charts, however, this week it has been revealed by the Official Charts that Wham! are in pole position, and have widened the gap between Ryder’s Amazon Music original track – which remains at Number Two.However, it doesn’t seem likely that the charts will stay this way until Christmas, with Ryder set to play a fan-exclusive gig tonight (December 19) in Shoreditch, London, in a push to promote the song in time for Christmas Day.Similarly, today (December 19) The Pogues are sharing a special, limited-edition physical run of their own iconic Christmas song ‘Fairytale Of New York’ in a push to climb the charts.Originally released in 1988 and featuring Kirsty MacColl, the track is being reissued in memory of the band’s late singer Shane MacGowan, who died “peacefully” in hospital from pneumonia on November 30. He was 65 years old and his funeral took place in Nenagh, County Tipperary on December 8.All proceeds from the reissue will be donated to the Irish charity Dublin Simon Community, and the release also arrived alongside a fan campaign to get Fairytale of New York to Christmas Number 1 for the first time.The push for the top position on the charts has also been endorsed by Shane MacGowan’s widow, Victoria Mary Clarke.

Lil Tjay and Fivio Foreign have flipped Wham!‘s iconic 1986 song ‘Last Christmas’ into a rambunctious drill song.Tjay and Foreign have been friends for some time. The latter even credited the former for getting his deal at Columbia Records in a 2020 interview with esteemed radio personality Angie Martinez.

Shane MacGowan‘s widow has recalled how it felt like she was living on the “edge of some kind of actual destruction” during her long-term relationship with the late Pogues icon.The Irish musician died “peacefully” in hospital from pneumonia on November 30. He was 65 years old.

Simon Cowell left viewers stunned on Sunday night [17 December] as he made his annual appearance at The Royal Variety Performance 2023.Taking to the stage the Britain's Got Talent judge, 64 was quickly compared to the late iconic pop star George Michael. Near the start of the star-studded show, which was attended by Prince William and Kate Middleton, Simon joined Bradley Walsh on stage to introduce this year’s winner of Britain’s Got Talent, Viggo Venn. For the occasion, the TV star donned a smart black suit and a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses.

Shane MacGowan's widow, Victoria Mary Clarke, has finally spoken out after a Catholic priest criticised the stars funeral, describing it as "completely inappropriate".

The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale Of New York’ is set to be released on 7-inch vinyl for charity.Frontman Shane MacGowan was laid to rest on December 8 after he died from pneumonia in hospital, aged 65, on November 30. His family, friends and the band themselves are now releasing their Christmas classic single to raise money for charity.All proceeds from the sales will go to Dublin Simon Community – a charity supported by Shane and his widow Victoria Mary Clarke.According to a press statement, the release is also to “celebrate the man himself” by getting the song, which has never topped the charts, to Number One.The 7-inch single will come with ‘Fairytale Of New York’ on the A-side with an instrumental version of the track on the B-side.

Sam Ryder has admitted that he would “love” for The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ to beat him to this year’s Christmas Number One spot.The Eurovision star is one of the competitors in this year’s race, with his single ‘You’re Christmas to Me’, taken from the film Your Christmas or Mine 2.However, since the news broke of the death of Shane MacGowan, fans of his festive classic are rallying to get that track to the Christmas Number One. It has never gone above second place in the UK charts, peaking there on its initial release in 1987.

Queens of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has reflected on the tribute show held for Taylor Hawkins in 2022 and his friendship with Dave Grohl.In a new interview with NME, Homme spoke about performing David Bowie‘s ‘Let’s Dance’ with Nile Rodgers in honour of Hawkins, who away passed in March last year, at Wembley Stadium last September.“That felt really good, because I’ve always placed a really high value on escapism as a really top commodity,” he said.“Being able to sing ‘Let’s Dance’ with Nile Rodgers at Wembley for my friend… Taylor would have loved that gig so much. It’s such a wonderful thing that perhaps only Dave [Grohl] could do as a send-off like that.

LCD Soundsystem have paid tribute to the late Shane MacGowan with a cover of The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale Of New York’.The Pogues frontman passed away “peacefully” on November 30, having died from pneumonia aged 65. His funeral occurred on Friday, December 8 in Tipperary, close to where MacGowan spent his childhood.James Murphy and co.