Pete Doherty found a "feeling of belonging" in crack dens.
Pete Doherty has been clean for three years
The Libertines frontman battled drug addiction for years but has been clean since 2020 and he admitted he was always "fascinated" by the sense of community he found amongst those with similar struggles.
He told ES magazine: "For all the dark sides of [addiction], there was a feeling of surviving — or not surviving — outside of that system that just fascinated me.
"And for those few hours in a crack den, anywhere in the world, it didn’t matter where you were, you’d find your people. It’s like being interested in anything. Like cyclists — you go anywhere in the world and you find people who are interested in cycling and who know the best places to cycle.
"That feeling of belonging. I used to get a strong feeling of that — not just among addicts and not just among musicians, but then musicians who were addicts as well were even more of a specific environment. It wasn’t just a case of finding drugs and taking drugs; you had to create something as well."
These days, Pete, 44, lives a quiet life in France with wife Katia de Vidas and their three-month-old daughter Billie May and finds London too much to cope with now.
He said: "I get overstimulated now when I’m in London. Even just the most common-or-garden pub on the high street, it’s like going to Disneyland.
"When I’m back in England doing shows, I’m a very different person to who I was.
"There’s these things they’ve got now called sound checks, where you turn up and you have a little run through the songs — they’re incredible! I’d never heard of them before!
"Before, I’d do the shows — mostly — but it seemed to always centre around finding and then using drugs, and the show was secondary. Everything’s just a lot less stressful now."
But good living in France has also taken a toll on the rocker's health.
He said: "I have seen a liver doctor who says I need to change my diet — too much cheese, too much milk. But the cheese is so good, that’s part of the reason I stay here… It’s a cholesterol and diabetes thing now, but there are tablets, it makes a big difference."
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