Babyshambles
English rock band

Babyshambles are an English rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) during a hiatus from the Libertines. Other long-time members included Mick Whitnall (lead guitar), Drew McConnell (bass guitar, backing vocals), Patrick Walden (lead guitar) and Adam Ficek (drums, percussion). Babyshambles have released three albums — Down in Albion (2005), Shotter's Nation (2007) and Sequel to the Prequel (2013) — as well as three EPs and a number of singles.
History
Early history and touring (2003–2005)
In mid-2003, Pete Doherty was banned from playing with the Libertines until he could overcome his substance abuse problems. As a response, Doherty formed an alternative band, and recruited former Libertine Steve Bedlow as vocalist. Initially, Doherty planned on calling his new band T'Libertines, because of the band's Yorkshire connection – the line-up of the band at the time consisted mainly of Yorkshiremen.
On the night Babyshambles' first gig was scheduled to take place, Doherty was arrested for burgling Carl Barât's flat. After he was charged and released, his friend Dean Fragile organized a new gig at the Tap'n'Tin. The performance received mixed reviews.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q797992. VIAF identifies the subject as 124589506. The Library of Congress control number is nb2006000142. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2003.
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This entry incorporates text from “Babyshambles” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.