The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall (bass), and Gary Powell (drums) for most of its recording career.

In August 2010, the four members of the Libertines reunited to play a series of shows, including slots at the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festivals.

They had booked themselves into the Odessa studios and played at Filthy Macnasty's Whiskey Cafe in Islington, where Doherty was working as a barman.

Despite a separate offer from an experienced member of the music industry, John Waller, the band accepted Morton's services as manager.

Endeacott's support led to them playing for the heads of Rough Trade, Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee, on 11 December.

After signing with Rough Trade, Doherty and Barât rented a flat together at 112a Teesdale Street in Bethnal Green which they named "The Albion Rooms", a venue that became a location for many of their Guerrilla gigs.

During this time, the band were playing as many gigs as possible (over 100 in 2002 alone) including support acts for the Sex Pistols and Morrissey of the Smiths.

During the recording of Up the Bracket and in the subsequent touring, Doherty's drug use had increased greatly (he was using both crack cocaine and heroin by this time) and his relationship with the rest of the band deteriorated.

Doherty expressed himself in the "Books of Albion", his personal collection of notes, thoughts and poems, and also more and more frequently on the libertines.org fan forums.

As a mark of their commitment to the band, Doherty and Barât both got tattoos of the word "Libertine" on their arms, written in Carl's handwriting.

The prelude to this moment can be heard on "The Good Old Days" from the Babyshambles Sessions, in which, after the lyric, "A list of things we said we'd do tomorrow," Doherty yells 'Get a tattoo!'

Back in the UK, tensions continued to grow as Doherty organised and played guerrilla gigs which Barât did not attend.

[15][16] Doherty continued to play with separate musical project Babyshambles whilst the Libertines completed tour commitments in Japan without him.

[22] The Libertines also went on a widely acclaimed UK tour in March 2004 that included three more consecutive sold-out dates in London, this time at Brixton Academy.

In early 2004 the Libertines won Best Band at the NME Awards, despite the fact that "Don't Look Back into The Sun" was their only official release during the preceding year.

As an aside from the Libertines, Doherty had recorded the vocals for "For Lovers", a song written by his friend and local poet Peter "Wolfman" Wolfe.

The day Doherty left the Priory for the second time, he went to the club and spoke with Barât, with Hassall and Powell present as well.

The new single "Can't Stand Me Now", which detailed the breakdown of the ailing frontmen's once seemingly cast iron friendship while illustrating the love-hate relationship between Doherty and Barât, was released on 9 August and charted at No. 2.

After the gigs at the Reading and Leeds festival, it remained unclear as to what the Libertines would do next as both Carl Barât and Pete Doherty were embarking on solo tours.

[34][35] On 25 April, it was confirmed that the Libertines would play on Saturday 5 July in London's Hyde Park, headlining the day, as part of the Barclaycard British Summer Time series of concerts.

[6] Support for the concert was to be provided by a number of bands and artists, most notably the Pogues, Spiritualized, Maxïmo Park, Raglans and the Enemy.

In June 2015, Carl Barât shared an image of the band in Thailand with the caption, 'Kitchen sink dramas over track listings', suggesting that the album was now complete.

[37] The Libertines' Anthems for Doomed Youth UK arena tour in January 2016 was supported by Blossoms, the View, Sleaford Mods, the Enemy, Reverend & the Makers, the Sherlocks and Jack Jones of Trampolene.

[38][39] In 2017, the Libertines started off their concert at Prenton Park by allowing Labour Party leader and candidate for Prime Minister, Jeremy Corbyn to deliver a speech in the run up to the 2017 United Kingdom general election.

The tour included a nine-date Christmas jaunt across the UK in December, along with shows in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Brussels and the Netherlands in October and November.

[40] The Libertines opened The Glastonbury Festival in 2022 and celebrated the 20th anniversary of Up The Bracket's release with a deluxe edition featuring live and early recordings.

Doherty liked the written works of William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Thomas Chatterton, whereas Barât preferred Saki and the Edwardian idea of wit.

The second was The Libertines Bound Together: The Story of Peter Doherty and Carl Barât and How They Changed British Music written by Anthony Thornton and Roger Sargent, an NME journalist and photographer respectively who had followed the band from an early stage.

"[64] The volatility and ardency of Barât's relationship with Doherty formed a significant, if not essential, aspect of their music and live performances.

"[28] In a March 2009 interview with NME Radio, when discussing a potential Libertines reunion, Doherty revealed, "He [Carl] was saying, 'Well, look, what if it's all gonna happen again?'