The Pogues are an Irish rock band formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems, but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before breaking up in 1996. The band reformed in 2001 and has played regularly ever since, most notably on the US East Coast around St Patrick's Day and across the UK and Ireland every December. According to Spider Stacy on Pogues.com, the group has not yet recorded any new music and is not inclined to do so.
MacGowan and Stacy's punk backgrounds informed their politically tinged music, yet they used traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, cittern, mandolin, and accordion.
The Pogues were founded in King's Cross, a district of North London, in 1982 as Pogue Mahone—pogue mahone being the Anglicisation of the Irish póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse."
