AssetID: 53265889
Headline: UNCAPTIONED Pete Doherty thought Shane MacGowan 'was bulletproof'
Caption: Pete Doherty thought Shane MacGowan 'was bulletproof’. The Pogues frontman passed away aged 65 on Thursday, just over a week after he had been released from hospital after several months of treatment. He had been diagnosed with encephalitis, a serious condition in which the brain becomes inflamed, last year. Speaking about MacGowan's death on BBC World Service's Newshour on Thursday, Doherty remarked, "I knew he was ill but I thought he was bulletproof.” The Libertines singer shared that he "loved and respected" the Fairytale of New York hitmaker and considered him "up there in the top three or four lyricists in the last 30 or 40 years”. The musician also praised MacGowan's "gift for melody" and described him as a "kind of an old romantic (who) told tales, told stories in songs, strong characters, he painted a lot of pictures and fairytales”. "For a long time I was sitting at his feet in awe... In certain difficult times of my life I could speak to him. When I was in jail, he knew some people, who knew some people and he helped me out of a few spots and I just felt close to him.” The 44-year-old, who was repeatedly arrested for drug offences and offences arising from drug use in the 2000s, recalled meeting MacGowan for the first time at his then-girlfriend Kate Moss' house. He claimed the rocker smashed his crack pipe before sticking it back together. Doherty has been sober since late 2019. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
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