Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish musician and vocalist, born in England, best known as the vocalist and songwriter of The Pogues. MacGowan drew upon his Irish tradition when founding The Pogues and shifted his early “punk” voice to get a much more authentic sound with tutoring from his extended family. A lot of his tunes are determined by Irish nationalism, Irish history, the encounters of the Irish in London as well as America, and London life generally. These influences are recorded in the biography, Rake in the Gates of Hell: Shane MacGowan in Circumstance. MacGowan has frequently mentioned the 19th century Irish poet James Clarence Mangan and playwright Brendan Behan as sways. In the forthcoming years MacGowan and The Pogues released several records. It was the UK’s number one single for three weeks, in two different charms. Selling over a million copies, the record given 2,125,000 to the charity’s greatest fundraising total in six years. From December 2003 up to May 2005, Shane MacGowan & The Popes toured widely in UK/Ireland/Europe. It ended up bringing in 1,602 for the charity.