MacColl, the 41-year-old daughter of folk icon Ewan MacColl, was with her two sons at the Yucatan peninsula resort of Cozumel when tragedy occurred.

“The accident happened when Kirsty, a keen diver, was hit by a speedboat traveling illegally in an area reserved for swimmers. Her two children were with her in the water at the time, but both of them are all right,” a management spokesman said.

Formerly married to record producer Steve Lillywhite, the singer went on hiatus in 1995 to raise their two sons. Just this year, she began making a quiet but busy comeback.

She released her fifth album, Tropical Brainstorm, in April and had filmed an eight-part series on the music, culture, politics and history of Cuba which was to debut December 20 on BBC Radio.

The series, recorded almost entirely in Havana, featured interviews with ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, Ry Cooder, and Buena Vista Social Club members including Reuben Gonzales, according to New Musical Express.

Though she had hits of her own in her native England, she may have been best known for the work she did with others, including the Pogues, Simple Minds, Robert Plant, and Big Country.

She scored her biggest hit with “Fairytale of New York,” a Christmas-season duet with Shane MacGowan of the Pogues.

Her first solo single, “They Don’t Know,” failed to chart when MacColl released it in 1979, but became an international hit a few years later when British comedian Tracey Ullman covered it.

She also had U.K. hits with “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop (Swears He’s Elvis),” and covers of Billy Bragg’s “New England,” and Ray Davies’ “Days.”

“Kirsty MacColl was a bright, fun-loving person as well as a talented singer and writer who was loved by anybody and everybody she came in contact with,” said manager Kevin Nixon. “We are absolutely distraught. I was, personally, immensely proud to be her manager after being a fan for so many years before that.”