The Pogues' Shane MacGowan visited by Bruce Springsteen amid health issues

4 May 2023, 18:04 | Updated: 4 May 2023, 18:16

The Pogues Shane McGowan is visited by Bruce Springsteen. Picture: 1.Ricky Vigil/GC Images 2. Twitter/Victoria Mary 3. Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science

By Jenny Mensah

The Pogues frontman's wife Victoria Mary took to Twitter to share the "beautiful experience" this week and praise The Boss for being "a truly wonderful man".

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Shane MacGowan has received a visit from Bruce Springsteen.

The Pogues frontman - who is best known for Fairytale of New York, the band's iconic Christmas song with the late Kirsty MacColl - had a drop in from the legendary American star at his home.

The 65-year-old Irish rocker has faced a number of health issues, recently being hospitalised over the Christmas and New Year period after receiving treatment for encephalitis- a rare brain condition which causes the brain to swell and can lead to difficulty with speech and loss of movement.

However, he looked in high spirits in a picture shared by his wife Victoria Mary, which was captioned: "What an amazing honour and a beautiful experience to get a visit from The Boss!!!"

She added: "Such a truly wonderful man and a total genius!"

What an amazing honour and a beautiful experience to get a visit from The Boss!!! ⁦@springsteen⁩ ⁦@ShaneMacGowan⁩ Such a truly wonderful man and a total genius! pic.twitter.com/waXwmWOHTZ
— @victoriamary (@Victoriamary) May 3, 2023

The heartwarming photo, which sees MacGowan looking up at Springsteen from a chair, while the Dancing in the Dark singer looks back at him with his arm around him, prompted a flurry of responses online.

One follower wrote: "This made my whole day!

"There is a whole lot of awesome in this photo!!!

"Makes me happy to see it! I wish you both a beautiful day!"

Another commented: "Legends! So happy they could spend some time together. The happiest post I’ll see all week."

Springsteen, who is currently on European tour dates, is set for a headline performance in the UK this year at BST Hyde Park.

The Born To Run legend will take to the London park with the E Street Band on two dates on 6th and 8th July next year in what will be in his BST debut.

The Boss will be joined by special guests The Chicks (formerly known as The Dixie Chicks) and Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, who will perform on Thursday 6th July and The Chicks and James Bay who will provide support on Saturday 8th July.

Further acts across BST's stages are still to be announced.