[1/2] Shane MacGowan, former lead singer of The Pogues, performs during the Montreux Jazz festival in the [Miles Davis] Hall late July 15, 1995. MacGowan and his band The Popes were part of the 'Irish Night' during the festival. MacGowan brought Irish traditional music to a huge new audience in the late 1980s by splicing it with punk, and achieved mainstream success with his bittersweet, expletive-strewn 1987 Christmas anthem "Fairytale of New York". Irish President Michael D. Higgins, also a poet, described MacGowan on Thursday as one of music's greatest lyricists. Following a decade with a new band, the Popes, MacGowan and the Pogues reunited and toured regularly until 2014.

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Persons: Shane MacGowan, Miles Davis, MacGowan, Stringer, Pogues, Nick Cave, Victoria Mary Clarke, Jesus, Mary, Therese, Pogue Mahone, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Michael D, Higgins, Kirsty MacColl, Bono, Sinead O'Connor, Glen Matlock, Johnny Depp, Cave, Muvija M, Graham Fahy, Conor Humphries, Padraic Halpin, Alex Richardson, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Montreux Jazz, Hall, Guardian, Westminster School, Pogues, Sex, Thomson Locations: Kent, Ireland, DUBLIN, London, Irish, York, English, Soho, Siam, New Zealand, Japan