Pete Doherty

Pete Doherty biography

Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles. In 2005, Doherty became prominent in tabloids, the news media, and pop culture blogs because of his romantic relationship with model Kate Moss and his frequently-publicised drug addictions.

Early life

Peter Doherty was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of Jacqueline (née Michels), who is of paternal Jewish Russian descent and Peter John Doherty, who is of Irish descent. He had a Catholic upbringing and grew up at a number of army garrisons, due to his father's work as an officer in the British Army, living at various times at garrisons in Catterick, Belfast, Wildenrath Barracks in the north west of Germany (right behind Peter Slater's house in Krefeld), Bedworth, Dorset and Larnaca, along with his mother, a nurse, and two sisters, Amy Jo and Emily. 18 years later they were reunited where the now Brighton based singer/songwriter won his support slot. He achieved 11 GCSEs, 7 of which were A* grades, at Nicholas Chamberlaine Comprehensive School in Bedworth and four passes at A Level, two at grade A. At the age of 16, he won a poetry competition and embarked on a tour of Russia organised by the British Council.

After his A-levels, he moved to his grandmother's flat in London - where he said he felt 'destined' to be-and got a job filling graves in Willesden Cemetery, although most of his time was spent reading and writing while sitting on gravestones. In a clip later made famous by YouTube, an eighteen-year old Doherty can be seen in an interview with MTV, on the day of the release of Oasis' Be Here Now album. He attended Queen Mary, part of the University of London, to study English literature, but left the course after his first year. After leaving university, he moved into a London flat with friend and fellow musician Carl Barât, who had been a classmate of Doherty's older sister at Brunel University.

Doherty and Barât formed a band called The Libertines in the late '90s, although it was not until 2002, with the release of their debut album Up the Bracket, that they began to achieve widespread mainstream success.

The group achieved critical and commercial success and gained a dedicated cult following, with Doherty in particular being praised by fans and critics alike as one of the most promising songwriters to emerge on the British music scene for some time. However, Doherty's increasing drug problems led to his estrangement from the band. In 2003, he was jailed for burgling Barât's flat.

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