Pete Doherty has opened up about how years of drug and alcohol abuse have ravaged his health. During an appearance on the BBC series Louis Theroux Interviews (via The Independent), The Libertines frontman explained how it feels like death is “lurking.”
“You are looking at a very sick man, I’ve battered it, haven’t I, I’ve fucking caned it,” Doherty said after he got up to take a swig of blackcurrant rum, which caused him to start coughing and clutch his chest. “[The] heroin and the crack… I surrendered to that, and then it was cocaine and the smoking and the alcohol, and now it’s cheese and the saucisson, and the sugar in the tea. It’s all gotta go.”
He continued by sharing how doctors had urged him to change his lifestyle. “They told me a little while ago if you don’t change your diet then you’re gonna have diabetes and cholesterol problems,” he said. “Death’s lurking, you know what I mean? That’s why I carry that stick.”
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Tragically, Doherty believes it would be “a stretch” for him to see his five-month-old daughter Billie-May grow up and start her own family.
Doherty also revealed that he is currently taking blockers that would counteract the effects of heroin, but he isn’t ready to go off them just yet. “I like to think I could do without it, but that level of trust has to be earnt, doesn’t it,” he said. “At the moment I think I’m still reeling a bit — it’s almost like I’m still in shock from having got clean. Maybe in 10 years, I’ll be able to talk with pride about being clean.”
Asked what he would tell anyone who’s thinking about trying drugs, Doherty added: “My life in using was so chaotic and the consequences of [it]… you’ll be in prison and you’ll fuck your body up, and you’ll be skint, and you’ll lose your family and you’ll lose everything you love. Is it really that good? That’s beyond curiosity, that’s a right mess.”
In November 2019, Doherty was arrested twice in 48 hours — first for purchasing cocaine and then for getting involved in a “drunken brawl” while celebrating his release. Speaking with NME in 2022, Doherty said he had been “clean since December 2019.”
While Doherty’s health may be failing, at least he’s back with his Libertines bandmates. Last month, the group announced their first album in eight years, All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade, and released the lead single, “Run, Run, Run.” The LP is set to arrive on March 8th, 2024.
