Kirsty MacColl
Photo: Rocky Scheneck

Folk singer Billy Bragg and Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood honored Kirsty MacColl at a memorial service Saturday by singing her songs.

The British singer was killed on December 18 when a speedboat struck her while she was swimming with her two sons off the coast of Mexico. She was 41.

According to a MacColl family spokesperson, who described the ceremony as reflective, Bragg opened the service by singing "A New England," a song he wrote that MacColl made a hit in 1985.

"While others just sing about issues, Kirsty got involved," Bragg said at the memorial, according to London newspaper The Independent. "I considered her not just a friend but a comrade." Johnson ended the ceremony by joining MacColl's band on the bittersweet "Don't Come the Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim," according to The Independent. More than 900 people packed into London's Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Church near Trafalgar Square, including friends and family such as U2's Bono, television host and ex-Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland and comedian Phill Jupitus.

A collection was held after the service for the Cuba Music Fund, which has been set up in memory of MacColl. She was working on a BBC show about Cuban music at the time of her death, and she had become involved in the campaign to lift U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

MacColl released her debut single, "They Don't Know," on Stiff Records in 1979, and although it failed to chart in the U.S. or England, Tracey Ullman's cover version was a hit in both countries in 1984. MacColl scored her own hit with "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop (Swears He's Elvis)" in 1981 and released her latest album, Tropical Brainstorm, last year.

• Kirsty MacColl
• Billy Bragg
• Holly Johnson

Kirsty MacColl
Photo: Rocky Scheneck

The speedboat driver who accidentally struck and killed British singer Kirsty MacColl has been released on bail, according to officials in Cozumel, Mexico, where the incident occurred Monday.

Police are investigating whether Jose Cenyam was illegally driving in a designated swimming area or MacColl and her two sons, who were unharmed in the accident, were swimming outside the restricted zone. The case is being treated as a negligent homicide.

MacColl's body was flown home on Thursday, according to Reuters, from Cozumel, a coral island off Mexico's Caribbean coast, where MacColl and her family were vacationing.

MacColl, daughter of folksinger Ewan MacColl, collaborated with such musicians as the Pogues, the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Simple Minds and the Smiths in a two-decade career. She released her latest album, Tropical Brainstorm, earlier this year.

Friends of the singer said MacColl was enjoying the happiest year of her life before the accident.

"In the last interview I conducted with Kirsty, [she said] the year 2000 had been the best she could remember and that she'd be spending Christmas at home with her family," said Graham X, editor of the MacColl fanzine Electric Rentbook. "The events of this week have certainly changed that." MacColl's children have been with their father, U2 and Dave Matthews Band producer Steve Lillywhite, since the accident.

"Like all the other people who knew Kirsty or who simply just loved her music, the events in Mexico have left a cloud of unbelievable sorrow raining down on us," Graham X said. "A young, talented life, gone so tragically and so unnecessarily."

• Kirsty MacColl

Kirsty MacColl
Photo: HUX Records

British pop singer Kirsty MacColl, who collaborated with such musicians as the Pogues, the Rolling Stones and the Smiths in a two-decade career, was killed in a boating accident Monday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the artist.

MacColl, 41, was on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico, swimming with her two children when a speedboat allegedly traveling in an illegal area struck her. MacColl's children were not hurt in the accident. An English-speaking Cozumel police officer was not available for comment.

Producer Steve Lillywhite, MacColl's former husband and the father of her children, is flying to Mexico on Tuesday (December 19) to be with the children, MacColl's spokesperson said. In addition to working with U2, the Dave Matthews Band and Peter Gabriel, Lillywhite had produced two of MacColl's albums.

MacColl released her latest album, Tropical Brainstorm, earlier this year. Her debut single, "They Don't Know," released on Stiff Records in 1979, failed to chart in the United States or England, but Tracey Ullman's cover version was a huge hit in both countries in 1984.

"I was very saddened to hear of the tragic circumstances that killed my friend Kristy MacColl," Ullman said in a statement. "Kirsty wrote great songs, particularly for girls, that made you laugh and broke your heart. I remember her for her unique talent and will be forever grateful for letting me sing her songs." MacColl later scored her own successful U.K. singles with "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" in 1981 and a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England" in 1985.

MacColl, daughter of folksinger Ewan MacColl, sang on albums by the Rolling Stones, the Smiths, Simple Minds, Big Country, Talking Heads, Happy Mondays and others. Among her most famous collaborations are her duets with Shane MacGowan on the Pogues' alt-rock Christmas perennial "Fairytale of New York," with Morrissey on his "Interesting Drug" single and with Bragg on his "Sexuality." Kevin Nixon, MacColl's manager of four years, said in a statement, "We are absolutely distraught. I was personally immensely proud to be her manager after being a fan for so many years before that." MacColl was much happier in 2000 than she had been in many years, according to friend Alan Officer, who also maintains Freeworld, a Kirsty MacColl Web site.

"Just as she had found happiness and further creative success, it all ends," Officer said. "Kirsty had recently released probably the finest work of her whole career in Tropical Brainstorm, a mature, witty, wonderfully rhythmic and musical [album] with a truly exceptional band [playing] the material." MacColl's spokespeople said more information on her death would be released Wednesday.

• Kirsty MacColl