After a four year hiatus, the English rock band, The Libertines, have announced that they will reunite on July 5th, when they will play Hyde Park in London.
According to NME, The Libertines join an impressive lineup including The Pogues, Spriritualized, Maximo Park, The Enemy, Wolf Alice, Swim Deep, The View, and I Am Kloot.
The reunion comes as a surprise to many considering the fragmented relationship between co-founders Peter Doherty and Carl Barat, that was until Doherty explained to the Israeli newspaper Ynet, that he has “financial problem.” He said, “Not long ago I listened to The Libertines songs on YouTube and had a burst of nostalgia so I said what the heck, and then they told me how much they will pay us and I cannot lie to you I couldn’t say no, at least not in my state right now. I was recently called to family law court after a young girl I knew had told me I was the father of her baby. I have a year and a half old girl and I need to pay a lot of alimony, I’m in debt. It’s very complicated for me to say no right now, I have financial problems.”
Even though the bands 2004 self-titled album hit No. 1 in the UK, the bands relationship difficulties and Doherty’s drug addictions ultimately broke The Libertines up. The members of the band went on to form separate bands, each gaining different degrees of success.
In 2010 the band reunited for the first time to play a series of shows which were received rave reviews by both the press and their fans.
Tickets go on sale Friday, May 2nd.
Video of their last performance below: