The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has included John Hassall (bass), and Gary Powell (drums) for most of its recording career. The band was part of the garage rock revival and spearheaded the movement in the United Kingdom.
The band gained some notoriety in the early 2000s, due to Doherty's use of illegal drugs and conflicts between Barât and Doherty. Although their mainstream success was initially limited, their profile soon grew culminating in a No. 2 single and No. 1 album on the UK Charts. In December 2004, their self-titled second studio album was voted the second-best album of the year by NME magazine. Their first two studio albums were produced by Mick Jones, co-founder of the punk band The Clash.
In spite of their critical and commercial success, the band's music was often eclipsed by its internal conflicts, stemming from Doherty's addictions to crack cocaine and heroin, which eventually led to the break-up of the band. Doherty has since said that the break-up of the band was due to relationship difficulties between Barât and himself which were not related to his drug addictions. The members of the Libertines then formed new bands with varying degrees of success.
In August 2010, the four members of the Libertines reunited to play a series of shows, including slots at the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festivals. The reunion shows received a highly positive response from the press and fans. In April 2014, the Libertines announced that they would again re-form for a show at Hyde Park in London. In November 2014 the band signed a recording contract with Virgin EMI Records, and released their third studio album, Anthems for Doomed Youth on 11 September 2015. All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade, their fourth studio album, was released on 5 April 2024.
History Early history (1997–2001) The founding members of the Libertines, Peter Doherty and Carl Barât, met when Barât was studying drama at Brunel University in Uxbridge in west London and sharing a flat in Richmond, London, with Amy-Jo Doherty, Peter's elder sister. Barât abandoned his course two years in; Doherty left his English literature course at Queen Mary, University of London after only a year, and they moved into a flat together on Camden Road in North London, which they named "The Albion rooms."
They formed a band with their neighbour Steve Bedlow, commonly referred to as "Scarborough Steve" and named themselves "the Strand", later discarded for "the Libertines" after the French writer Marquis de Sade's unfinished novel Lusts of the Libertines ("the Albions" was also considered, but rejected). They later met John Hassall and Johnny Borrell, who played bass with the Libertines for a short period. Many of their early gigs took place in the flat shared by Doherty and Barât. They had booked themselves into Odessa studios and played at Filthy Macnasty's Whiskey Cafe in Islington in North London, where Doherty was working as a barman. Roger Morton thought they had potential and offered with a friend, to manage the Libertines. Despite a separate offer from an experienced member of the music industry, John Waller, the band accepted Morton's services as manager. However, Morton eventually gave up the job after an unsuccessful six months.
In March 2000 the Libertines met Banny Poostchi, a lawyer for Warner Chappell Music Publishing. Recognizing their potential, she took an active role in managing them. They recorded "Legs XI", a set of their best 8 tracks at the time (and later a popular bootleg recording among fans). However by December 2000, they had still not been signed causing Dufour, Hassall, and Pootschi to part ways with the Libertines. The subsequent success of The Strokes, a band with a similar style, caused Pootschi to reconsider her position.
She formed a plan (dubbed "Plan A") to get the Libertines signed to Rough Trade Records within 6 months. During the period, Barât and Doherty wrote many of the songs which ended up on their debut studio album. Gary Powell was recruited to play drums, as Paul Dufour was deemed by Pootschi to be "too old." On 1 October 2001, Barât and Doherty played a showcase for James Endeacott from Rough Trade. After Borrell failed to attend this important rehearsal, they telephoned him to discover that he was on tour "living the high life." Endeacott's support led to them playing for the heads of Rough Trade, Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee, on 11 December. They were told they would be signed, and the official deal happened on 21 December. The Libertines were in need of a bassist, so Hassall rejoined the band at their request, but was informed he would have to stay in the background, as the band would be focused on the partnership of Doherty and Barât. After signing with Rough Trade, Doherty and Barât rented a flat together at 112a Teesdale Street in Bethnal Green which is part of East End. They named it "The Albion Rooms", a venue which became a location for many of their guerrilla gigs.
Success (2002–2003) Now with a firm line-up, they began to play more gigs alongside The Strokes and The Vines, an Australian band, in quick succession. They succeeded in spreading their name around the music press, with the NME taking a particular interest in them (an interest which continued throughout their career). Their first single was a double A-side of "What a Waster" and "I Get Along", produced by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. It was released on 3 June 2002 to a highly positive reception but received little airplay due to its liberal use of profanities. A censored version appeared as DJs Mark and Lard's single of the week on BBC Radio 1. On the week the single came out, the Libertines were featured on the cover of the NME for the first time. The single reached No. 37 in the UK Singles Chart.
Their debut studio album was recorded and produced by Mick Jones, formerly of the Clash and Big Audio Dynamite. Entitled Up the Bracket, it was recorded at the RAK studios in St John's Wood northwest of Charing Cross, with mixing taking place at Whitfield studios. During that time, the band played as many gigs as possible (over 100 in 2002 alone) including being support acts for the Sex Pistols and Morrissey.
Their second single and title track from the album, "Up the Bracket", was released on 30 September and charted at No. 29. It was soon followed by the release on 21 October of the album, which charted at No. 35. They won Best New Band at the 2002 NME Awards and Barât moved out of The Albion Rooms.
Problems (2003)
During the recording of Up the Bracket and in touring afterwards, Doherty's drug use had increased greatly (he was using both crack cocaine and heroin by then) and his relationship with the rest of the band deteriorated. Relationships in the band had become fractious, and some of the tension was visible in their performances. Doherty expressed himself in the "Books of Albion", his personal collection of notes, thoughts and poems, and also more and more frequently on the libertines.org fan forums. His posts and writings at this time were unpredictable: at times, he seemed distressed and angry; at others, he came across as calm and happy.
They went to the US to promote themselves and work on new material. While in New York City around May 2003, they recorded the Babyshambles Sessions, where they recorded versions of current and future Libertines and Babyshambles releases such as "Last Post on the Bugle", "Albion", "In Love With a Feeling," and "Side of the Road". As a mark of their commitment to the band, Doherty and Barât both got tattoos of the word "Libertine" on their arms, written in Carl's handwriting. The prelude to this moment is heard on "The Good Old Days" from the Babyshambles Sessions, in which, after the lyric, "A list of things we said we'd do tomorrow," Doherty yells 'Get a tattoo!' However, Barât became increasingly exasperated with the people with whom Doherty was associating and the drugs they brought. Barât quit the sessions in disgust and Doherty finished recording alone. The sessions were given to Helen Hsu, a fan, who as Doherty allegedly instructed, put them out for free on the internet.
Back in the UK, tensions continued to grow as Doherty organised and played guerrilla gigs which Barât did not attend. Their new single "Don't Look Back into the Sun" saw the return of Bernard Butler as producer. The lyrical quality of the song was praised, and the single held as a prime example of Doherty and Barât's songwriting talents. However, Doherty did not work well with Butler and was rarely present during the recording process. That led to rumors that the song had to be pieced together from the vocals he provided, with Butler himself recording Doherty's guitar parts.
As Barât's birthday approached, Doherty organised a special celebration gig in an attempt to smooth the tensions between them. Barât, however, was already attending a party organised by some of his friends, and the hosts convinced him not to leave. Doherty was left to play the gig himself. Feeling betrayed, Doherty neglected to take the train to Germany the next day for the Libertines' European tour. The Libertines were forced to play without Doherty: a guitar technician learned his guitar parts and several songs were dropped altogether. Soon, however, positions changed and it was Barât who refused to let Doherty into the band unless he cleaned up. Doherty continued to play with a separate musical project, Babyshambles whilst the Libertines completed tour commitments in Japan without him. Distraught and angry, Doherty burgled Barât's flat and was arrested. On 11 August, he pleaded guilty at the preliminary hearing to the charge of burglary.
Amidst the internal turmoil, "Don't Look Back into the Sun" was released on 18 August and charted at No. 11, the highest position they had managed at that point. The Libertines played the Carling Weekend with replacement guitarist Anthony Rossomando (who later joined Dirty Pretty Things). On 7 September, Judge Roger Davies sentenced Doherty to 6 months in prison. He served his sentence in Wandsworth prison in southwest London . The sentence was later reduced on appeal by Judge Derek Inman to two months.
Second studio album and the initial break-up of the Libertines (2003–2004) Barât was waiting for Doherty at the prison gates when he was released in October 2003. After an emotional reunion they played a gig the same day at the Tap'n'Tin nightclub, in Chatham, Kent – with both Hassall and Powell, who had not been expected to come. The show became NME'''s Gig of the Year. The Libertines then played three consecutive sold-out dates at the London Forum in mid-December 2003, ending in stage invasions by the fans. These gigs were named amongst the top 100 gigs of all time by Q magazine. The Libertines also went on a widely acclaimed UK tour in March 2004 which included three more consecutive sold-out dates in London, this time at Brixton Academy in South London.