Watch Nick Cave perform “A Rainy Night in Soho” at Shane MacGowan’s Funeral

His funeral took place on Friday (8 December) the Irish town of Nenagh, County Tipperary, at St Mary’s of the Rosary Church in Ireland. The proceedings were filled with performances from a plethora of friends that MacGowan had made over the years.

Nick Cave, accompanied by a full band including an accordion and fiddle player, played piano and sang a rendition of the Pogues’ 1986 ballad “A Rainy Night in Soho.” Former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan and musician John Francis Flynn performed the traditional song “I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day,” which the Pogues recorded in 1985, and "Fairytale of New York' was tackled by Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Irish singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill.

Nick Cave performs 'A Rainy Night in Soho' at the funeral of Shane MacGowan in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, this afternoon. @virginmedianews pic.twitter.com/G17PmNYi1l

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) December 8, 2023

In a recent installment of The Red Hand Files, Cave paid tribute to his longtime friend. “Shane was not revered just for his manifold talents but also loved for himself alone,” he wrote. “A beautiful and damaged man, who embodied a kind of purity and innocence and generosity and spiritual intelligence unlike any other.”