The tragic story behind the death of New York singer Kirsty MacColl, just after saving her son’s life

The story behind Kirsty MacColl’s death is incredibly tragic as the singer saved her son’s life just before her death.

The British singer was a predominantly successful artist in the 1980s and 90s, thriving in the new wave and alternative rock genres while still sticking to her folk roots.

Starting out singing backing vocals for popular groups such as Simple Minds and The Smiths, she eventually made a name for herself in the pop music realm when she duetted with Shane McGowan and The Pogues on the famous Christmas song “Fairytale of New york”.

The festive season banger remains the legacy of the singer-songwriter, who was born in Croydon, London on 10 October 1959.

The musician had a string of hits in the 1980s. (Kerstin Rodgers/Redferns/Getty)

Who was Kirsty MacColl?

Her father was Ewan MacColl, one of the most influential figures of the British folk revival of the 1960s, who founded the first folk music club in England, called The Ballads and Blues Club.

Despite folk music being a strong influence on Kirsty, she began a music career with Croydon punk rock band Drug Addix in the late 1970s, becoming a back-up vocalist under the name ‘Mandy Doubt’.

The record executives held off on signing the band, but chose to sign Kirsty as a solo artist, launching her career in the music industry.

She struggled to chart in the early stages of her career, but managed to break into the top 20 with the country-pop song “There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” in 1981.

A cover of Billy Bragg’s ‘A New England’ in 1985 became her biggest solo hit ever as it reached number seven in the UK, two years before the iconic ‘Fairytale of New York’ was released.

McColl was killed in a motorboat accident in 2000. (kpa/United Archives via Getty Images)

By December 2000, the artist had established herself as a well-respected artist and was in Cuba recording a radio show presentation for the BBC.

How did Kirsty MacColl die?

After her TV work, she traveled to Cozumel, Mexico for a vacation with her two sons and boyfriend James Knight.

She was diving with her two boys in a reef, the area marked as a restricted area for boats.

After they reappeared, a speedboat entered the restricted area at a dangerously high speed and headed towards the trio.

Kirsty saw the boat and pushed her son Jamie out of the way, but was tragically hit by the speedboat, with serious head and chest injuries, killing the artist on impact.

Her body was flown back to the UK where Kirsty was cremated at a funeral service at Mortlake Crematorium in Kew on 20 January 2001.

The man responsible for her untimely death was never jailed. (Patrick Ford/Redferns/Getty)

What happened after that?

The motorboat that was responsible for the Briton’s death was owned by the founder of the Comercial Mexicana supermarket chain, Carlos González Nova.

He is also the brother of the chain’s multimillionaire chairman, Guillermo González Nova.

It was later revealed that an employee of Guillermo’s, José Cen Yam, was in control of the boat at the time of the incident, and he was later found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to two years and ten months in prison.

However, he avoided jail time, instead paying a minimum fine of £61 and was also ordered to pay money to MacColl’s family.

MacColl’s family then launched the Justice For Kirsty campaign, which pressed for a judicial review over the alleged lack of cooperation from the Mexican government over the incident.

In 2009, Carlos González Nova died of natural causes at the age of 92, which led to the dissolution of the Justice For Kirsty campaign.

Any remaining funds were donated to charity, which her family said “Kirsty would have approved of”.

And on May 27, MacColl’s stepmother told The Sun she believed the singer would “never get justice” after her death.

Featured Image Credit: Patrick Ford/Kerstin Rodgers/Redferns/Getty

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