Pete Doherty Last of the Rock Romantics

Poetry and punch-ups. Supermodels and self-destruction. Burglary and Babyshambles. Who else? Last of the Rock Romantics - Pete Doherty

Pete Doherty. Part myth, part icon. His life is splashed across the front pages of the nation's tabloids each and every day for all to see. But what is the truth? Who is Pete Doherty?

Now, for the first time, comes the full story, warts and all. In 'Last of the Rock Romantics' Alex Hannaford gets to the heart of the story, tracing Pete Doherty's rise from lead singer of The Libertines to boyfriend of Kate Moss and beyond.

The definitive biography of a British rock icon, fully updated in paperback, with a new chapter and an introduction by Pete's mother Jackie Doherty.

Lauded and condemned in equal measures, Pete Doherty is inarguably the most dangerous, thrilling and vital rock 'n' roll star for a generation. But Pete Doherty is different. Since he burst into the public eye with the most exciting guitar band of his generation, 'The Libertines', he has garnered a massive following of adoring fans. Owing to his public persona and artistic panache and an intelligence in his lyrics and poetry that punk didn't have, Pete Doherty has been elevated to near-mythic status.

Inhabiting his own fictitious, romantic vision of England, 'Arcadia', where hedonism, danger, sex and music know no bounds. Pete Doherty has caught the public attention and filled many a column inch with his turbulent lifestyle. Alex Hannaford attempts to get to the core of the man in examining his musicianship, his guise as a latter day Romantic poet and of course, his well-documented self-destructive tendencies.

From him being sacked from his beloved Libertines, a rehab programme at a monastery in Thailand, performing with Elton John at Live 8, and the Kate Moss saga via burglary, prison, hard-drugs and not least of all that wonderful music, Pete Doherty's story is a riveting one.

So where did Pete's metamorphosis from a sensitive middle-class teenager, whose poetry earned him a trip to perform in Russia with the British Council at the age of 16, occur? What became of the love affair that was his relationship with fellow Libertine Carl Barat? Has Pete Doherty's drug use damned or deified him? Alex Hannaford's in-depth biography explores the complete story of the star from his birth in Liverpool in 1979, through to his childhood in London, the splendour and heartache of The Libertines and the muddled rock 'n' roll saga of his latest band Babyshambles. This is utterly compelling reading about a modern-day maverick.

Alex Hannaford has been rock and pop editor on the London Evening Standard, and is a freelance writer and author who has contributed to the Guardian, Evening Standard, Loaded, Best, Dazed and Confused and Bizarre among others. As well as having interviewed scores of bands and solo artists, Alex Hannaford has managed a successful US rock band, driven tour buses, worked as a talent scout for a major record label, sung in bands and has seen his house turned into a refuge for homeless musicians.

Review: With so many stigmas around the music industry and being a celebrity, Alex Hannaford gives an in-depth real account of the pressures and pitfalls of stardom. If you have ever wished to be a rock star this book will take you on the roller coaster ride that comes with the territory. You will be jealous and relieved! Plus get an insight into why our modern-day rock heroes feel obliged to self-destruct and seem to be destined to be doomed in affairs of the heart.

Pete Doherty Last of the Rock Romantics
Random House Australia
Author: Alex Hannaford
ISBN: 9780091910792 / 009191079X
RRP: $24.95


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