Bruce Springsteen will pay tribute to the late Pogues front man Shane MacGowan with a cover of the band's classic song A Rainy Night in Soho.
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
MacGowan’s widow, Victoria Mary Clarke, announced the news on Instagram on Tuesday, saying, "Our very good friend Bruce has recorded a beautiful version of A Rainy Night in Soho. It’s a stunning tribute to Shane’s songwriting and it’s out on Thursday!"
Long a fan of MacGowan, Springsteen has previously covered the song live, including as the opening track of his show in Nowlan Park in Kilkenny in May 2024.
The US singer also visited MacGowan, who died aged 65 in November 2023, at his home in Dublin in May 2023 during the Irish leg of his tour.
Springsteen has hailed MacGowan as one of his "all-time favourite writers", adding that people will still be singing his songs in 100 years.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band opened their gig at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny by paying tribute to the late Shane MacGowan with A Rainy Night in Soho.
— Greg Murphy 🤓 (@TheGregMurphy) May 13, 2024
Not a dry in the house after that I'd say. pic.twitter.com/YvsOEYCMYD
In an 2020 interview with The Late Late Show, Springsteen called MacGowan a "master" whose music would be remembered.
Writing on his official website after the Pogues man death, Springsteen said, "Over here on E Street, we are heartbroken over the death of Shane MacGowan. Shane was one of my all-time favorite writers.
"The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock and roll canon. I was fortunate to spend a little time with Shane and his lovely wife Victoria the last time we were in Dublin.
"He was very ill, but still beautifully present in his heart and spirit. His music is timeless and eternal. I don't know about the rest of us, but they’ll be singing Shane’s songs 100 years from now."
Victoria Mary Clarke has previously said that a Shane MacGowan tribute album is to be released later this year.
Speaking about the acts who would feature on he record, she told Brendan O'Connor on RTÉ Radio 1 last November, "There's Americans, there's English people, Irish people - it's kind of a mix."
"I probably shouldn't say who they are, but they're kind of obvious. Some of them are obvious, but then some of them are not obvious, and they're the ones I'm kind of interested for people to hear."
