“I tried to commit suicide with a marble sink.” How the tabloid frenzy around the relationship between supermodel Kate Moss and rock star Pete Doherty brought added chaos to The Libertines' already messy career
· louderBy Paul Brannigan
published 10 October 2024
English indie-rockers The Libertines were always surrounded by drama, but when supermodel Kate Moss entered their lives, things got even wilder, sometimes dangerously so
In the early 2000s, The Libertines were arguably the most talked-about, and certainly the most written-about, rock band in Britain. The UK music press were borderline obsessed with the London-based quartet, their scrappy, romantic songs about 'Albion', their free-spirited hedonism, and, in particular, the bromance between frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barât.
When Doherty began dating supermodel Kate Moss, The Libertines moved from the front pages of the NME to the front pages of Britains's scandal-hungry, self-righteous, hateful, right wing tabloid newspapers, who delighted in reporting every whiff of gossip and drama around the band, particularly when it came to stories of Doherty and Barât's appetites for Class A drugs.
“The tabloid interest didn’t really happen until Kate [Moss] came into the picture,” Doherty says in a new interview with The Times. “It wasn’t really connected to the band.”
“But it wasn’t like we were innocent victims in it all,” Barât admits. “We realised the attention could put the band into the annals of history, even if it was a pain in the arse at the time.”
Asked how the additional attention around the quartet affected the band members' mental health, Barât replies, “Well, I tried to commit suicide with a marble sink.”
The incident in question took place at the home of the band's manager, former Creation Records boss Alan McGee. Following an intense argument with Doherty, The Times reports that “Barât head-butted a sink so violently he ended up with one eye hanging out of its socket.”
Alan McGee took Barât to the nearest hospital, where his eye was sewn back in. Unfortunately, it was inserted the wrong way round. Realising this, McGee was forced to drive Barât to London to get the procedure done correctly.
“I felt like I was on The Truman Show, even though I wasn’t the one going out with Kate Moss,” Barât recalls, reflecting back on the time. “I didn’t know what to think or believe. The only thing I had faith in was the songs.”
The Libertines tour the UK from next week. Remaining tickets can be purchased here.
Get the Louder Newsletter
The latest news, features and interviews direct to your inbox, from the global home of alternative music.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder
A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.
More about louder
David Gilmour features in Body Count's new video for Comfortably Numb
Latest
“Viruses are cool. They’re cool because they’re so gnarly. It’s Darth Vader stuff.” The Offspring's Dexter Holland talks about viruses like other people talk about their favourite band or football team, and he actually makes them sound pretty punk
See more latest ►
Most Popular
Neal Morse & The Resonance share video for dark and moody new single Thief
Riot Fest deny dead festival attendee's injuries occurred during Slayer comeback show