Pete Doherty

Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer and artist. He is best known for being co-frontman of the Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie band Babyshambles and Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres. Early life Pete Doherty was born in Hexham, Northumberland, to a military family. His father, Peter John Doherty, was a major in the Royal Signals, while his mother, Jacqueline Michels, was a lance-corporal in Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. His paternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant from Cheekpoint in County Waterford; his maternal grandfather, was Jewish, the son of immigrants, Moise Michels and Chana Peress, from France and Russia. He was brought up a Catholic. He grew up at a number of army garrisons across Britain and continental Europe, with his sisters, AmyJo and Emily. Doherty was the second of the three children. While living in Dorset, aged 11, Doherty began playing guitar, originally in an attempt to impress a female classmate, Emily Baker. He achieved 11 GCSEs, 7 of which were A* grades, at Nicholas Chamberlaine Comprehensive School in Bedworth, North Warwickshire, 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 available on YouTube, an 18-year-old Doherty can be seen in an interview with MTV, on the day of the release of Oasis' third studio album Be Here Now (1997). He attended Queen Mary, a college 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. Career