That is one of the reasons I do hate him so much, because if he wasn't a junkie waster, then he could be really good, but he has thrown it all away. Anyone who has a great opportunity and then throws it away by being a self indulgent w**ker is never going to get any respect from me, no matter how much 'talent' they supposedly have. I'd also like to point out that I have no real interest in music. If I like a song I will listen to it, if I don't I wont. I have no favorite artist or genre. The press might stir things up about Doherty, but if it wasn't fundamentally true they wouldn't have got away with printing it for this long.
When Pete/Libertines 1st came out they claimed to be rent boys and stuff like that. You gotta love a band who can invent stories like that Ill say one thing and thats if pete dies or never gets back to his best, its a massive loss to the music world.
As i said even though i thought he was poo and i dont like him there was potential to be good if he could clean himself up. Im not into his sort of music (im a house head/dance fan) but i could tell he could be good
I know you didn't say you'd seen him live, but your insinuation that an opinion of an artist isn't valid unless you have met them or seen them live struck me as at odds with your statement as to the importance of Lennon. Not even if it was a Jaffa Cake?