About
After being booted from English indie-rock band the Libertines for his debilitating hard drug use, singer Pete Doherty created Babyshambles. But rather than curbing his habit, Doherty continued the downward spiral, and he became infamous as Kate Moss' tragic boyfriend and enabler. In between run-ins with the law; stints in rehab; writing a digressive, self-indulgent book (The Books of Albion: The Collected Writings of Peter Doherty); and a burgeoning modeling career (as the face of Roberto Cavalli), he and Babyshambles band members -- guitarist Patrick Walden, bassist Drew McConnell and drummer Adam Ficek -- released their debut, Down in Albion. The album's lo-fi guitar-pop garnered lukewarm reviews, and it sorely lacked the songwriting chemistry of Doherty and former Libertines collaborator Carl Barat. Many of the album's tour dates were cancelled due to Doherty's continued dysfunction, and the public train wreck continued as he and Moss became weekly tabloid fodder. Shortly after Moss and Doherty broke up, he became engaged to supermodel Irina Lazareanu, and later in 2007 he released a second album, Shotter's Nation, a more cohesive collection of economic indie rock.
- Dan Shumate
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