Carl Barât

Although his appearance on Client's 2004 single "Pornography" was technically Carl Barat's first work as a solo artist, Barat began working on his solo career in earnest after the Libertines disbanded later that year due to Pete Doherty's increasing drug use and instability. In 2005 he signed to Vertigo Records and started writing songs, often escaping to the English countryside and Wales for inspiration. Barat also had a tumor removed from behind his ear, taking several weeks early in 2005 to recuperate. Along with working on his own material, Barat also pursued gigs as a DJ, spinning at art shows, festivals, and at Dirty Pretty Things, a club night he founded. Though he was signed as a solo artist, Barat reunited with former Libertines drummer Gary Powell for his backing band. He also brought in Anthony Rossomando -- who had been Pete Doherty's replacement in the Libertines when Doherty was arrested in summer 2004 -- as second guitarist. Bassist Didz Hammond left the Cooper Temple Clause to join Barat's project, which was christened Dirty Pretty Things after Barat's club night (which was later renamed Bright Young Things). Barat released a collection of his favorite songs, Under the Influence, in summer 2005; the following year, Dirty Pretty Things released their debut album, Waterloo to Anywhere, which reached number three on the U.K. album charts. Romance at Short Notice followed two years later; in December 2008, the band played its final gig. In 2009 Barat and Powell reunited with Pete Doherty at a tribute show for promoter Johnny Sedassy at the London Rhythm Factory, and a year later, the full band reunited for gigs at the Leeds and Reading festivals. That year, Barat began developing his solo career, touring with Glasvegas that January and performing his first solo headlining shows in March. That September, he announced he would release his solo debut, which arrived in October 2010, just after his book about his life with the Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things, Threepenny Memoir: The Lives of a Libertine, was published. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi