Inside the improbable friendship between Shane MacGowan and Johnny Depp that began at a bar and stretched over 30 years

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Johnny Depp, a close friend of Pogues vocalist Shane MacGowan, attended the Dublin burial on Friday, giving it a Hollywood send-off.

After the death of the Fairytale of New York singer on November 30, the 60-year-old Hollywood icon was honored by reading one of the prayers during the ceremony.

When Johnny arrived at St. Mary's of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, County Tipperary, he was wearing a black suit, a hat, a scarf, and dark sunglasses. Up to 30,000 people had gathered in the city to pay their respects, as reported by DailyMail.

Depp and MacGowan became friends more than thirty years ago

After a fortuitous encounter at a bar, Depp and MacGowan became friends for more than thirty years, but their attachment towards each other was almost instantaneous. 

In 2020 Depp said: 'When I met Shane he was negotiating a pool table. There was a drink in this hand, a pint, and in this hand, there was a guitar. And he was teetering, balancing back and forth trying to negotiate which way to fall. I watched him do that for about 15 minutes. Then I was introduced to him before he fell, and from that moment on you just knew... there are moments in life when you know this will happen one time and one time only when you get the opportunity to spend time with greatness. Having known him a long, long time I can only say I fell in love with him the second I met him and I'm still in love with him to this day."

Depp says, 'wife Victoria is a wonderful partner for Shane'

At Shane and Victoria's 2018 Copenhagen wedding, the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star serenaded them.

Depp said, "His wife Victoria is a wonderful partner for Shane. They're best friends, and I've seen that continue over these many years under all kinds of duress."

The actor even performed on guitar during 'The Pogues' 1994' Top of the Pops performance of 'That Woman's Got Me Drinking', demonstrating the pair's mutual love of music.

In 2020, he produced 'Crock of Gold - A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan', a documentary directed by Julien Temple that chronicles MacGowan's career.

The documentary won the special jury prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival and went on to inspire a new generation of Pogues fans worldwide.

The film's producers included Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream and Gerry Adams, the former president of Sinn Fein. The rock star and his spouse openly supported Depp in his 2022 defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard.