The Pogues

The Pogues are an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, as Pogue Mahone, an anglicisation of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse". Initially poorly received in traditional Irish music circles—the celebrated musician Tommy Makem called them "the greatest disaster ever to hit Irish music"—the band were subsequently credited with reinvigorating the genre. They later incorporated influences from other musical traditions, including jazz, flamenco, and Middle Eastern music. Having gained a reputation for their energetic, raucous live shows, the Pogues released their first studio album, Red Roses for Me, in 1984, featuring a mix of traditional Irish songs and original compositions by MacGowan. Their second album, Rum Sodomy & the Lash, produced by Elvis Costello, was released the following year. The Pogues collaborated with the Dubliners on a 1987 arrangement of the folk song "The Irish Rover", which reached number one in Ireland and number eight in the UK, and later that year released the Christmas single "Fairytale of New York", which reached number one in Ireland and number two in the UK. A duet with Kirsty MacColl, it features on the band's critically acclaimed and commercially successful third studio album, If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988), and remains a perennial Christmas favourite in the UK and Ireland. The Pogues recorded two more albums with MacGowan—Peace and Love (1989) and Hell's Ditch (1990)—before sacking him during a 1991 tour as his drug and alcohol dependency increasingly affected their live performances. The Pogues continued after MacGowan's departure, first with Joe Strummer and then longtime band member Spider Stacy as frontmen, releasing new material on Waiting for Herb (1993). They broke up following the critical and commercial failure of their seventh and last studio album, Pogue Mahone (1996). The band—including MacGowan—re-formed in late 2001 and toured regularly in the UK and Ireland, also performing in the USA and mainland Europe. Following the death of longtime guitarist Philip Chevron in October 2013, the Pogues dissolved the following year. Longtime bassist Darryl Hunt died in August 2022 and MacGowan died in November 2023. Surviving members Spider Stacy, Jem Finer and James Fearnley subsequently re-formed the Pogues and will tour the UK and Ireland in 2025.