Former Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan intubated in hospital

Shane MacGowan has had a run of poor health including a viral encephalitis diagnosis in late 2022. Photo: TNS

Fairytale Of New York singer Shane MacGowan is hospitalised and intubated, according to his wife Victoria Mary Clarke, who posted an alarming photo of the former Pogues frontman on social media.

Clarke didn’t offer specifics on MacGowan’s latest health issues in her Tuesday message, but she thanked two of his longtime bandmates for visiting.

“I just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone who has been messaging me and @ShaneMacGowan and thank you @spiderstacy and Terry Woods for coming to visit him,” she captioned a picture of the 65-year-old Celtic punk rocker lying in a hospital bed. “Love and prayers for everyone who is struggling right now. Hang in there!”

MacGowan has had a run of poor health including a viral encephalitis diagnosis in late 2022. He was admitted to a hospital again in June, according to the Independent.

In July, Clarke wrote on Instagram her family was working through “scary health challenges” and posted a photo of MacGowan hospitalised once again. She first wrote about MacGowan’s latest challenge over the weekend.

In 2015, MacGowan was also confined to a wheelchair after breaking his hip in a fall. He then caught pneumonia, according to Clarke’s social media pages. She said that led the famously hard-living rocker to quit drinking.

MacGowan became an international star with the Pogues’ boozy 1988 Christmas tune Fairytale Of New York. He came to the aid of Jon Bon Jovi in 2020 when the New Jersey pop singer was mocked for recording a sanitised version of the raunchy tune.

“Well done,” MacGowan said on a video posted online. “Really liked that version you did of Fairytale Of New York.” - New York Daily News/Tribune News Service