What happened to Shane MacGowan? Illness explored as singer's recent appearance with Kate Moss sparks concern 

The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan was spotted with model Kate Moss and wife and journalist Victoria Mary Clarke at the Andipa Gallery in Knightsbridge on Tuesday.

The gallery hosted Shane MacGowan's artworks, which are set to sell for up to £32,000.

A limited-edition book titled The Eternal Buzz and the Crock of Gold, put together by Clarke was up for grabs. It included never-before-seen artwork, handwritten lyrics, and school essays. Art critic Waldemar Januszczak and close friend, actor Johnny Depp also contributed to the book.

Shane MacGowan, 64, who lives in Dublin with his wife Clarke, 55, attended the event in a wheelchair. The singer has been using a wheelchair since after he met with an accident in 2016, in which he broke his pelvis. He is also undergoing physiotherapy for a knee injury.

Battling addiction from a young age, the effects of years of alcohol and heroin have left Shane MacGowan needing 24-hour care.

Concerns about his health cropped up at the event as the Irish artist was seen vaping and nursing a sparkling drink.

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Shane MacGowan's physical health after years of substance abuse

Shane MacGowan has experienced severe physical ailments due to his long battle with addiction.

At the age of five, his family would reportedly give him Guinness to help him sleep, and his father frequently took him to the local pub while he drank with his friends.

He went to rehab for the first time when he was 17 after he got addicted to valium. Sinead O'Connor, another Irish singer, and long-time friend, reported him to the police in 1999 for snorting heroin. She recently expressed doubts about MacGowan's ability to continue living a normal life after his rampant use of drugs over the years.

Clarke noted how people often told her that Macdowan's "only got about six months to live." The couple has been together for 36 years and she has acted as his primary caretaker.

In an Instagram post in 2021, Clarke opened up about struggling with MacGowan's various ailments and wrote:

"A lot of the time I feel guilty about not doing enough for Shane, not being superhuman not having enough energy not being able to heal him or even always be sweet and kind to him."

In 2016, Clarke announced that he was sober for the "first time in several years," explaining that his problem with alcohol stemmed from years of "singing in bars and clubs where people go to drink and have fun."

The couple first met when Clarke was 16 and MacGowan was still a part of the Pogues. Pogue Mahone, later shortened to The Pogues, was formed in 1982 and reformed in 2001 with Shane MacGowan as the frontman. The band toured until 2014 when they disbanded once again.

The singer frequently performed while intoxicated on stage and was often pictured looking bedraggled post-concert.

Shane MacGowan has made strides toward self-improvement over the past few years. He had surgery in 2015 to get a new set of teeth. The singer was notorious for having bad teeth and the last of his original teeth had fallen out by 2008 due to substance abuse.

According to Clarke, MacGowan's sobriety began after a prolonged hospital stay due to pneumonia and a hip injury, and he continued to stay clean when he returned home.