Irish songwriter and former Pogues lead singer Shane MacGowan received last rites before he died on Thursday, his family said.
“Prayers and the last rites were read during his passing,” the family said in a written statement on Nov. 30.
MacGowan, 65, is best known as the co-author of the 1987 Christmas mega-hit “Fairytale of New York,” which still enters the charts each December, more than 35 years after its initial release.
He was also the frontman and founder of the Pogues, a London band that fused Irish traditional music and punk rock, along with occasional forays into other genres.
MacGowan was raised a Catholic and often used Catholic imagery in his songs. However, he did not practice the faith for most of his adult life, which included decades of heavy drug and alcohol use and frequent infidelity.