Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
# The Late Late Show
'A dream come true': Shane MacGowan sings Fairytale of New York alongside Philomena Begley
Shane’s wife said it was a “dream come true” for him to sing with Philomena.
LAST NIGHT’S LATE Late Show tribute to Shane MacGowan featured a rendition of The Pogues’ Christmas classic Fairytale of New York.
During the star-studded tribute to the musician, the 61-year-old took to the stage to perform his hit alongside country singer Philomena Begley.
Shane’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, defended the performance after some viewers took to Twitter to criticise the duo.
“Can any of you f**cks who think you can do a better job of singing Fairytale come on over and prove it,” she tweeted.
In a later tweet, Clarke said that Shane was not planning on singing the song until he heard that Philomena was going to be at the tribute, “and he wanted to sing it with her, a dream come true for him”.
Can’t see the video? Click here.
McGowan also addressed the controversy surrounding Fairytale of New York over the use of the word “faggot” in the iconic song.
He said he included it because it fitted with the way the flawed character would speak but that he is “absolutely fine” with the word being censored.
