Pete Doherty Biography
When staunch Catholics Jacqueline Michaels and Peter John Doherty had their son Peter Doherty on March 12 1979 in Hexham, UK they had no way of knowing that he would rise to fame as one of Britain’s top rock artists. Pete Doherty, as his is professionally known, had no connection to music with any of his relatives as his father was a soldier and his mother had ventured into a career in medicine. Even as a child he was oriented to interests like writing poems, though a stone’s throw away from composing lyrics, perhaps this was an early expression of a talent that lay within.
Doherty got his education from the Nicholas Chamberlaine School in the West Midlands and Queen Mary School affiliated to the University of London where he majored in English Literature. As a child Doherty loved silence and whenever his parents could not find him the first place they searched was a local cemetery where he went to relax and create poetic compositions, this went on into high school and college and though it was seen as an unusual character, Doherty’s parents often left him alone to do as he pleased. Doherty was an obedient child who valued education, in all his academic life he was a consistent top student with excellent grades, outside class he spent time in the drama club where his writing skills were utilised by the school to win poem reciting competitions.
After graduating from college Doherty took a surprising turn when instead of following a career in the same line as his education he opted to venture into the unfamiliar territory of music, his attraction was to rock genres like indie rock, alternative rock and post-punk rock. In 1997 Doherty co-made a band that was named The Libertines, the bands target audience was limited to his hometown of Hexham where they gradually rose to popularity becoming frequent performers at events and gatherings.
He continued with minor performances that yielded limited success, the reason for this was attributed to the band’s active social life that revolved around heavy drinking. For this Doherty’s career halted as he was involved with run ins with the law and he had drug related problems that almost cost him an early career. In 2002 a cleaned up Doherty and the band released a debut album titled Up the Bracket, it was followed by a second and last album, the band’s last, titled The Libertines in 2004. Fans began to identify with Doherty and his music was appreciated by a following of rock lovers, this rise to the top was short-lived as the The Libertines disbanded and Doherty was back to drug abuse.
The group was to later regroup in 2007 achieving even bigger success with hit singles like ‘An Evening with Pete Doherty’, ‘Death on the Stairs’, ‘The Good Old Days’, ‘Dilly Boys’, ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ and ‘What a Waster’.
Doherty’s drug problems resurfaced again in 2008 and in 2010 he was involved in a highly publicized legal battle over the use of cocaine. he went solo in 2009 and has since produced an album titled Grace.
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