Carl Ashley Raphael Barât (/bəˈrɑːt/;[1] born 6 June 1978) is a British musician best known for being the co-frontman with Pete Doherty of the indie rock band the Libertines.

His father, a former artist, worked in an armaments factory, and his mother, Chrissie, was part of the commune-dwelling counterculture and a member of peace groups such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

He has one sister, actress-turned-singer Lucie Barât, who played Helen's handmaiden in the 2004 film Troy, founded publishing house and artistic organization Little Episodes, and is currently the lead singer of the Au Revoirs.

When Doherty discovered that the Libertines had left without him to perform in Japan he broke into Barât's Mayfair flat and stole various items, including an antique guitar and an NME Award.

Barât warmly welcomed Doherty back to the Libertines on the day of his release, and they later performed an impromptu "Freedom Gig" at the Tap 'n' Tin club in Chatham, Kent on 8 October 2003.

Doherty's drug addiction continued while the band worked on their second album (the aforementioned The Libertines) in 2004, which strained his relationship with Barât.

[7] What was intended as a short leave of absence turned into something more permanent, as Doherty formed a new band, Babyshambles, and the Libertines officially disbanded after their final gig in December 2004.

The Libertines (minus Denmark-residing bassist John Hassall) came together for a tribute gig for their late promoter, Johnny Sedassy.

[14] His bandmates included former Libertines drummer Gary Powell; Anthony Rossomando, who filled in as guitarist following Doherty's departure from the group; and Didz Hammond, formerly of the Cooper Temple Clause, on bass.

The group played their first shows in Italy and Paris, France, in October 2005, before recording their debut album in November 2005 in Los Angeles, California.

This was produced by Dave Sardy, who has also worked with Supergrass, the Dandy Warhols, Jet, Marilyn Manson, the Rolling Stones, and Oasis.

[20] In 2008, Tim Burgess stated that he and Barât had a supergroup the Chavs and planned to record their debut album in August that year.

Barât toured as a solo artist with Glasvegas, performing with them at Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations on 31 December 2008,[22] and at the Popscene in San Francisco on 8 January 2009.

On 9 June 2009, Barât debuted two new songs, "So Long" and "Monday Morning" at a solo show at Dunfermline's Carnegie Hall.

[30] In January 2013 Barât announced that guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of the Smiths) and drummer Andy Burrows (formerly of Razorlight and We Are Scientists) would feature on his second solo album, due for release in 2013.

[32][33] Also in 2013, Barât wrote the track "The dark, it comes" for French singer Vanessa Paradis' album Love Songs, on which they duet.

[35] In 2014, Barât contributed the song "Love Is Not on Trial", co-written with Davey Ray Moor, for Marc Almond's album The Dancing Marquis.

From over 1000 applications for the positions of rhythm guitarist, drummer and bass guitar, Billy Tessio, Jay Bone and Adam Claxton were chosen, respectively.

[46][47] On 25 August 2009, a short video entitled "Two British Dudes" featuring Barât and fellow musician Har Mar Superstar was released on crappyholidays.net.

[50] Barât made his opera debut in 2012, as Nero in Pop'pea at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; the show was a rock adaptation of Il Nerone.

[51] In the same year he played the role of Gavin Metcalf in Dan Turner's film The Man Inside, and had a cameo appearance on the BBC Three TV series Dead Boss.

[54] Barât's girlfriend, Edie Langley, gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy named Eli on 9 December 2010.