'You will live forever in my heart': Shane MacGowan's wife pays emotional tribute after singer's death

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Irish singer Shane MacGowan's grieving wife has paid a moving homage to him, stating that he will "live forever in my heart."

The renowned rock musician, who composed the well-known Christmas song 'Fairytale of New York', died  peacefully at 3 am on November 30, at the age of 65, surrounded by his loved ones and spouse Victoria Mary Clarke.

Victoria Clarke remembers Shane McGowan

When Victoria revealed the tragic news of the beloved punk star's death, she wrote that she was "blessed beyond words" to have known him as someone who loved her "so endlessly and unconditionally" and that "you will live in my heart forever... you meant the world to me."

She added, "Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese."

The singer had been in and out of Dublin's St Vincent's Hospital for months due to viral encephalitis, a potentially fatal illness that causes brain swelling. Ahead of his impending birthday on Christmas Day, he was released from the hospital last week.

The rebellious rocker was well-known for his hard-partying lifestyle, slurred speech, missing teeth, and on-stage meltdowns during his 1980s heyday. His 1987 hit 'Fairytale of New York' became a Christmas classic, selling millions of copies worldwide.

Due to years of alcohol and drug abuse, the Irish icon's poor health in recent years forced him to use a wheelchair and require the help of his wife and caregiver at home.

MacGowan's autobiography sheds light on his early days

In his autobiography, MacGowan, who was born on Christmas Day 1957 in Kent to Irish parents, recalled spending his early summers drinking, smoking, and singing traditional songs at an Irish farmhouse with his family. "It was like living in a pub," he told the Guardian in 2013, as reported by Daily Mail.

His drug and alcohol addiction contributed to a mental breakdown when he was seventeen, and he spent six months in a psychiatric hospital.

After getting better, he welcomed the punk movement that erupted in London in the late 1970s and early 1980s.