In addition to a modern cover by the Pogues themselves and Waits’ cover, which is his first new studio recording in eight years, the tribute album also features new renditions of the band’s music by Primal Scream, Steve Earle, Dropkick Murphys, Glen Hansard, Hozier and Jessie Buckley, Johnny Depp and Imelda May, Kate Moss, Lisa O’Neill, the Libertines, the Murder Capital, LYRA, Johnny Mac and the Faithful, Camille O’Sullivan, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Cronin, Damien Dempsey, Lisa Moorish and Another Day, Madra Salach, Amble, Moya Brennan, David Gray, Garron Noone, Mundy, Picture This, Pinch of Snuff, and the High Kings.
20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan takes its name from an album that MacGowan always wanted to make himself, according to his wife Victoria Mary Clarke. The full tracklist has not been shared yet, but Clarke and Rubyworks both promise that it will be announced soon — along with additional artists, too.
MacGowan died on November 30, 2023 at age 65. As the frontman of the Pogues, he was heralded for his cranky, often tongue-in-cheek delivery of songs about the misadventures of Ireland’s residents. The Pogues’ biggest single in the United States is the sour-then-sweet holiday hit “Fairy Tale of New York.” Nick Cave, Billy Bragg, Jack Antonoff, and countless others mourned MacGowan after he died by writing heartfelt tributes. The Pogues lost other members in recent years as well, including bassist Darryl Hunt and drummer Andrew “The Clobberer” Ranken.
Read the Sunday Review of the Pogues’ 1985 album Rum Sodomy & the Lash.
20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan:
