The funeral of late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan took place today (December 8) in the Irish town of Nenagh, in County Tipperary, The Irish Times reports. The service was punctuated with musical performances, including one by MacGowan’s close friend Nick Cave. Cave played piano and sang a rendition of the Pogues’ 1986 ballad “A Rainy Night in Soho.” Cave was accompanied by a full band including players on accordion and fiddle. Watch the full performance here.
MacGowan died last month at age 65 following a long illness. An outpouring of tributes from the music community followed the news of MacGowan’s death; Billy Bragg, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others eulogized the late singer-songwriter. Cave, who had known MacGowan for decades, wrote about his kindness and musical brilliance in a recent installment of The Red Hand Files. “Shane was not revered just for his manifold talents but also loved for himself alone,” Cave wrote. “A beautiful and damaged man, who embodied a kind of purity and innocence and generosity and spiritual intelligence unlike any other.”
Also during MacGowan’s funeral, Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill performed “Fairytale of New York,” the Pogues’ bittersweet classic recorded with late singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl.
