Philip Ryan (17 June 1957 – 8 October 2013), professionally known as Philip Chevron, was an Irish singer, songwriter and guitarist from Dublin. He is best known as the guitarist for The Pogues.

Career

Since the late 1970s, Chevron was the lead singer and a founding member of punk rock outfit, The Radiators from Space, receiving some critical acclaim, albeit little widespread popularity or financial success. Following a temporary breakup of the band in 1981, he lived in London for a time, meeting and befriending Shane MacGowan through time spent working together at a record shop.

Following the release of the Pogues' 1984 debut album Red Roses For Me, he was invited to join the band on a short-term basis as cover for banjo player Jem Finer's paternity leave. He then took over as guitarist following MacGowan's decision to concentrate on singing—thereby becoming a full-time member of the band in time for the recording of its second album, Rum, Sodomy and the Lash. He also played the banjo and mandolin on Pogues recordings.

Although living somewhat in the shadow of MacGowan during his time with The Pogues, and lacking the former's pitch-black sense of humour and distinctive vocal style, Chevron proved himself as a singer-songwriter in his own right, creating the popular ballads "Thousands Are Sailing" and "Lorelei" amongst others.

Chevron left The Pogues in 1994 following much-publicised problems with drugs and alcohol. In 2003, he reformed The Radiators (Plan 9) along with ex-Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan. They released the critically acclaimed Trouble Pilgrim in 2006. It topped the independent record charts but did not make any inroads into the mainstream. The album included a tribute to Chevron's friend, Joe Strummer.

In later years, he became, in effect, The Pogues' unofficial spokesperson and resident expert on the reclusive Shane MacGowan—frequently visiting online forums and directly answering questions from fans. In 2004, he personally oversaw the remastering and re-release of The Pogues' entire back catalogue on CD. He toured regularly with The Pogues, who reunited after a successful reunion tour in 2001.

When not touring with The Pogues much of his time was spent seeing plays, musicals and operas primarily in London, Dublin and New York. Occasionally, he was involved professionally with productions and his reviews were regularly published on The Pogues official forum under "Speaker's Corner."

Illness and death

In June 2007, The Pogues' website announced that Chevron had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In early 2008, the website announced that Chevron had recovered, and to his surprise and joy, his hearing had returned to almost pre-treatment levels. He embarked on the March 2008 tour of the United States and managed to sing "Thousands Are Sailing" in each of the performances. By 2009, Chevron had fully recovered from both the cancer and the resulting chemotherapy provided by the National Health Service in the UK. In May 2013, it was announced that the cancer had returned and it was "lethal".

Chevron died on 8 October 2013 from cancer. His last public appearance was at the Olympia Theatre for a fundraiser in August of the same year.