Artists & Bands

The Libertines | Tunes + Guitar Lessons

Chaotic, poetic, and proudly unpolished—The Libertines lit up the early 2000s with raw garage rock, tabloid drama, and one of indie’s most unforgettable frontman duos!

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Libertine = A person, especially a man, who freely indulges in sensual pleasures without regard to moral principles

Named after Marquis de Sade’s novel Lusts of the Libertines, English garage rockers The Libertines seemed determined to live up to the name in both spirit and spectacle.

Flatmates Peter Doherty and Carl Barât met at university, bonding over a love of songwriting, drugs, and Camden-based chaos. Their antics quickly attracted the attention of the British media, who revelled in tales of their hedonistic lifestyle—at a time when the U.K. music industry was flush with cash and, as rumour has it, some even preferred payment in white powder over pounds.

Despite fitting perfectly into the messy but magnetic early-2000s indie scene, The Libertines struggled to land a record deal—until The Strokes broke through in the U.S., paving the way for a British counterpart. Rough Trade signed them in 2001.

With their debut single What A Waster produced by Bernard Butler (of Suede and later Mercy fame), they burst onto the scene, sharing stages with The Strokes and Australia’s The Vines—indie rock’s holy trinity of the era. The press, especially NME, went wild.

But fame didn’t tame the chaos. After a string of erratic live shows, side projects, and even tattooing Libertines on each other, the band found their form again with Don’t Look Back Into The Sun—arguably their greatest tune, once more produced by Butler.

Then it all fell apart.

Pete missed tours, broke into Carl’s flat, and landed in prison. By the time they recorded their second album, security had to keep them from fighting in the studio.

Their saga continued—arguments, reunions, more chaos—but it never quite topped Don’t Look Back Into The Sun.

If there’s a lesson in The Libertines’ story, perhaps it’s this: when your band’s frontmen are hooked on heroin and crack, it might be time to rethink the dream.