"𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿."
𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒, the greatest rock band the generation has ever seen, the bona fide rockstars of their time.
𝐌...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
♡₊˚ 🎸・₊✧
From Chaos to Calm: Freddie Downing Quits Rock Biz After A Decade of Drama
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(Downing and Harket at Groucho's, 2003)
The Maverick and mastermind behind rock band Libertines' legacy calls it a day, Freddie Downing retires at the age of 60.
Sheffield raised Rock 'n' Roll ringleader met the band through record label, Virgin Records back in 1991. He claims to have been starstruck by the levitating potential he discovered in the band, creating great honours of taking the three-piece wonders of rebels under his wing. In a rumbled interview he did with NME Magazine back in 1994, not long after the band sold out a record breaking 375,000 people over three nights at Knebworth Park, Downing suggests that he had known their destiny all along.
"Those kids knew what they wanted." He said, crushing down his third cigarette of the night. "The first night I sat down with them, I had no clue who they were. I'm hearing thaf they're some good fucking rockstars but all I saw was three scrawny teenagers and their scalp, cause they were too busy blowing their noses off to pay attention to me. I asked—–what do you want? From all of this, what do you want? And they said.. Freddie, we want to be famous and make you proud. Those fuckers were sucking up to my arse from the beginning but they knew what they wanted. They said we want Wembley, we want Knebworth and Glastonbury, Earl's Court, give us the rest of the world. And I remember thinking.. what a bunch of greedy cocks. But I've got to hand it to them, they have balls."
The man was prestigious in his divine interventions regarding the band's heckling attitude and thrashing of hotels, commonly receiving harsh critics and scrutiny before Downing is forced to lay the ground rules. By nature, the band disobeyed. But his patience in the show biz was widely celebrated by Libertines, who has continuously spoke highly of their long-lasting manager.
Libertines' rocky ship of struggles within the band appears to not have been the drastic cause of his decision to call quits. Downing disclosed the sheer desire to hand over his reigns and spend the remaining of his leisure time with his family, whom he had juggled along with the three-piece band.
