Fairytale Of New York hits number one after MacGowan death

Fairytale Of New York has returned to the number one slot on the Irish singles charts following the death of Pogues frontman Shane McGowan. 

The iconic track, featuring  Kirsty MacColl, hit number one upon release in 1987 and has consistently charted within the top 10 since the streaming era began.

However, the death of MacGowan last Thursday has pushed the track back to number one.

While it hit number one in Ireland back in 1987, it was held off number one in the United Kingdom by the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of Always On My Mind.

A media campaign has taken off in the UK to get the track to number one for Christmas.

Tracks such as All I Want For Christmas Is You, Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree and Last Christmas have all charted higher than their original peaks in recent years.

Fairytale Of New York came close to hitting number one again in 2017 for the 30 year anniversary, but stalled at number two.

A Rainy Night In Soho also made an appearance on the singles chart this week, charting at number 15, beating the original 1991 peak of number 24.

The official Christmas number one will be announced on Friday, December 22nd, but Fairytale Of New York has become the bookie’s favourite to take the top slot this Christmas.

MacGowan’s funeral procession made its way through Dublin on Friday as fans paid their respects to the late singer, before being buried near his family home in Tipperary.

Stars such as Nick Cave, Paul Simon and Billy Bragg paid tribute to MacGowan following his passing last week.