Babyshambles have announced a huge UK reunion tour (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Pete Doherty has announced his old band Babyshambles are embarking on a UK tour, marking their first reunion in 10 years.
The Killamangiro hitmakers – made up of Pete Doherty, Mick Whitnall, Drew McConnell, and Adam Ficek – will be performing 10 dates in November and December to celebrate 20 years of their debut album Down in Albion.
Pete, 46 – also frontman for The Libertines, who performed on The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury earlier this year – took to social media with the exciting news.
‘@babyshamblesuk are reuniting for the first time in 10 years to celebrate 20 years of Down in Albion,’ he wrote.
Pre-sale tickets go live on Wednesday, and fans can sign up now for early access, while general sale will open on Friday September 5 at 10am.
The band – known for hits including F**k Forever, Delivery, Fall from Grace and Albion – will kick things off in Norwick on November 14, before heading to Brixton’s O2 Academy, and ending in Plymouth on December 10.
Pete Doherty announced the news on social media
Pete formed Babyshambles hen he was ousted from The Libertines in 2003 (Picture: Joshua Sammer/Getty Images for ZFF)
Pete told NME of the reunion that Babyshambles have ‘unfinished business’ and the tour was ‘a no brainer for me, a real desire to play some of them old tunes and have a little shindig’.
He also explained how this reunion was only possible once he and Witnall had both been clean for a number of years.
‘There was always talk about it; there was always a desire to play those songs again,’ he said, ‘but the centrifugal point of it was addiction really, and the danger that me and Mick would be an unhealthy influence on each other. So it was people around us not wanting to meet up and probably us both knowing that it wasn’t a good idea.’
This announcement comes after the band’s former guitarist Patrick Walden died aged 46 in June.
‘It is with deep regret and sadness that we share the news of Patrick Walden’s death,’ the band wrote in a statement, which Pete, also 46, reposted on his Instagram Story, along with a black-and-white photo of Walden.
Babyshambles were peak 00s indie sleaze (Picture:Tabatha Fireman/Redferns)
Former guitarist Patrick Walden died in June at the age of 46 (Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
‘We feel very fortunate to have known, loved and worked with him and we kindly ask for respect and privacy during these difficult times. Peter, Drew, Mike, Adam.’
Walden – who co-wrote many Babyshambles hits, including six of the 16 tracks on Down in Albion – joined the indie band in 2004 as the lead guitarist alongside Doherty after he was ousted from The Libertines for his escalating drug use.
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