Music fans will be able to say their final goodbyes to the late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan later this week.
RTE reports that a funeral for MacGowan will be held Friday, December 8, in Tipperary, Ireland, with the mass at St. Mary’s of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, which will be open to the public.
There had been plans for a procession from Dublin, but that is reportedly no longer happening.
MacGowan passed away November 30 at the age of 65. His wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, told The New York Times that he died from pneumonia, although he had also been battling viral encephalitis at the time of his death.
“He wasn’t ready to give up,” Clarke told RTE. “He wasn’t ready to stop fighting – but his body did it for him.”
Meanwhile, U2 paid tribute to MacGowan during the Friday, December 1, show of their Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere.
Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows the Irish rockers performing the Pogues classic “A Rainy Night in Soho” for the Vegas crowd.
The band had previously paid tribute to MacGowan on social media, writing, “Shane MacGowan’s songs were perfect so he or we his fans didn’t have to be.”
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
