Johnny Depp delivered a personal reading to the “maestro” Shane MacGowan at the late Pogues singer’s funeral.
The Irish singer-songwriter and former Pogues frontman died from pneumonia in hospital, aged 65, on November 30. It came after he had been diagnosed with encephalitis and had been in ill health.
Today (December 8), the funeral took place for MacGowan in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, Ireland, and Depp, who was a personal friend of the songwriter, gave a reading from one of the Catholic Church’s Prayers of the Faithful.
Johnny Depp delivers a brief reading at Shane MacGowan’s funeral 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/FborlAwTme
— Johnny Depp’s Warrior (@johndeppwarrior) December 8, 2023
Depp started by gesturing to MacGowan’s coffin and proclaiming him a “maestro”, and then read out the following: “We pray for a deeper spirit and compassion in the world. May we feel the pain of others, understand their need and reach out to all who suffer in any way with a continuous love that is rooted in faith and peace.”
It was just one of many appearances at the funeral by well-known friends of Macgowan; Nick Cave sat at a piano and played the 1986 Pogues song ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’, while Irish singers Mundy and Camille O’Sullivan performed a rendition of ‘Haunted’, the duet recorded by MacGowan and Sinead O’Connor in 1995.
Sinn Fein politician Gerry Adams delivered the first reading of the service, telling the audience that he was asked by MacGowan’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke to speak. “My words are gratitude – gratitude for Shane’s genius, for his songs, for his creativity,” he said, adding that the musician “deepened our sense of Irishness and our humanity”.
“Your music will live forever, you are the measurer of our dreams,” he said towards the end of the speech.
The actor Aiden Gillen also spoke at the service, reading Revelations Chapter 22, verses one to three, while MacGowan’s wife shared symbols of his life including a book of MacGowan’s art and lyrics, a statue of Buddha, some teabags and a copy of ‘Led Zeppelin II’.
It was announced that U2 frontman Bono was unable to attend the service, however, a recording was played out in his absence – with the Irish singer reading out the Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians.
Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan and musician John Francis Flynn later appeared at the service, performing a cover of the traditional song ‘I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’, which was famously recorded by The Pogues in 1985.
Fans has also lined the streets of Dublin earlier in the day to witness a coffin procession around the city, singing songs such as ‘Dirty Old Town’ and ‘Fairytale of New York’ in his honour.
