"When Jimi Hendrix died, Shane spent the whole day with his face turned to the wall." How Jimi Hendrix became an unlikely influence upon Irish folk-punk legends The Pogues

Jimi Hendrix , The Pogues.

In his biography A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan English music journalist Richard Balls noted that, during the dark days of the late '80s, The Pogues' iconic frontman would gobble LSD and conduct imaginary conversations with the late Jimi Hendrix.

Although you'd be hard-pressed to find traces of Hendrix's influence in The Pogues' wild, romantic folk-punk, both MacGowan and co-vocalist/tin whistler player Spider Stacy were lifelong fans of the Seattle-born guitar god.

"I knew absolutely that I would never be able to play guitar like Hendrix," MacGowan wrote on Instagram in 2021. "Because he was born with it as a gift and I haven't got that gift. No amount of practice could give me that gift."

In a new interview with The Quietus, Spider Stacy hails the importance of Hendrix to the formation of the London-Irish band.