A Likely Lad

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There are fist fights and attempts to stalk their idols, the Strokes (all stories from this period also invariably end with the admission that Libertines hanger-on and future Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell “was there too”. But I saw heroin ruin the lives of so many people - many of whom you'd never have expected to get mixed up in such things. With his wildest days behind him, Doherty candidly explores – with sober and sometimes painful insight – some of his greatest and darkest moments, taking us inside the creative process, decadent parties, substance-fuelled nights, his time in prison and tendency for self-destruction. That sounds like me,” he says, “I think that’s a solid foundation of my character, prone to despair or melancholy. Obviously rock stars, actors, actresses and artists tend to have access to more money, attend wild parties, have tumultuous affairs and are able to enjoy many interesting experiences; but their day to day lives are always equally interesting to me.

I wanted her to prove her love, so I said, You’ve got to get a tattoo with my initials on, you’ve got to get branded – it was more more of an insecurity thing on my part.Richards also took into seriously his responsibility somehow to those who are dead and were influenced by his use of drugs. When he explains the appeal of John Lydon – he “had this image of being a bit rotten, vicious, but actually he was a really intelligent, sensitive kid… quite timid” – you feel he could be describing himself: soft-spoken, always preferring “Peter” to “Pete”, pinpointing the vulnerability that endeared him to his fans.

Doherty describes the well-documented incident in which he burgled Barât’s home, which led to his first prison sentence and first exile from the Libertines, as “a bit naughty, really”.

We learn of his enduring urge for fame, a “desperation to get on telly”, mixed with a distrust of the “industrialisation of the Libertines” as he describes their label Rough Trade’s handling of their early years. As a somewhat lonely “army brat” – born in Northumberland but raised in Belfast, Cyprus, Germany, Dorset and Warwickshire – Doherty read Percy Shelley, Oscar Wilde and George Orwell.