Fairytale is over...

SHANE MacGowan, who wrote the punk rocker most played the Christmas song of all time, has died at the age of 65.

- Giles Sheldrick

The Pogues yesterday said their frontman, who had been battling ill health, had passed away "peacefully" surrounded by his loved ones.

And as music stars and politicians last night lined up to pay tribute, bookies slashed the odds of Fairytale of New York - Shane's 1987 smash hit duet with the late Kirsty MacColl - to be this year's Christmas No1.

Wife and teenage sweetheart Victoria Mary Clarke announced the sad news on Instagram, saying: "There's no way to describe the loss that I am feeling."

Australian singer Nick Cave described Shane as "the greatest songwriter of his generation". The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess hailed him as an "inspiration".