Pete Doherty

Peter Doherty is an English musician best known as the co-frontman of the indie rock band the Libertines, which he co-founded with Carl Barât in 1997. He is also known for his musical projects Babyshambles and Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres, as well as for his songwriting, turbulent personal life, and drug problems. Born in Hexham, Northumberland, on 12 March 1979, he was raised Catholic and grew up across various army garrisons in Britain and continental Europe. His father was a major in the Royal Signals, while his mother served as a lance-corporal in Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.

Doherty began playing guitar at age 11 while living in Dorset. He attended Nicholas Chamberlaine Comprehensive School in Bedworth, achieving 11 GCSEs and four A-Level passes. At age 16, he won a poetry competition and toured Russia with the British Council. After completing his A-levels, he moved to his grandmother's flat in London and worked filling graves at Willesden Cemetery. He briefly studied English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, leaving after his first year. He subsequently moved into a London flat with Carl Barât after meeting him through his older sister, Amy-Jo.

Doherty and Barât formed the Libertines in the late 1990s, achieving mainstream success with their 2002 debut album, Up the Bracket. Doherty earned critical praise for his songwriting, but his drug issues led to his estrangement from the group and a brief imprisonment in 2003 for burgling Barât's flat. Although he rejoined the band for concerts, recurring drug problems and an aborted rehabilitation attempt in Thailand led to cancelled festival appearances and his dismissal in 2004, causing the group to disband. The band later reunited for high-profile shows in 2010 and 2014, signed with Virgin EMI Records, released their third album, Anthems for Doomed Youth, in 2015, and toured Europe and the UK in 2019.

Towards the end of his initial time with the Libertines, Doherty founded Babyshambles. The band released three studio albums: Down in Albion (2005), Shotter's Nation (2007), and Sequel to the Prequel (2013), embarking on an arena tour in 2007 despite lineup changes and legal disruptions. In 2016, he formed Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres alongside former touring musicians, performing in South America and Europe—including reopening shows at Paris's Bataclan—and releasing a self-titled debut album in 2019.

Doherty has also maintained a solo career and a series of collaborative projects. He released his debut solo album, Grace/Wastelands, in 2009, followed by Hamburg Demonstrations in 2016, and collaborated with French musician Frédéric Lo on the 2021 single "The Fantasy Life of Poetry & Crime". His musical collaborations include work with Wolfman on the top-10 single "For Lovers", as well as Client, Littl'ans, the Streets, and Trampolene. Beyond music, Doherty modeled for Roberto Cavalli's Fall 2007–2008 campaign and starred in the 2012 film adaptation Confession of a Child of the Century.

In addition to performing, Doherty is an author and visual artist. Orion Books published his personal journals as The Books of Albion: The Collected Writings of Peter Doherty in 2007, and he co-authored the 2022 biography A Likely Lad with Simon Spence. His artwork, which generated controversy for utilizing his own blood, has been featured in international exhibitions in London, Paris, and Berlin.