Bloc Party criticise Pete Doherty

Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke has spoken out against Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty.

Okereke, who recently caused a storm with negative comments about Oasis, criticised Doherty’s status as a “tortured artist”.

When asked if an artist needed to suffer to create, Okereke told The Guardian: “That is something that has been misunderstood in recent times, and has led to really clichéd behaviour. Someone like Pete Doherty - his drug-taking and refusal to adhere to a traditional lifestyle - makes people thing that his art is somehow more relevant because he’s a fuck-up.

“It’s easier to be a misfit or a dropout than it is to be a genius and actually create something.”

Meanwhile, Pete Doherty plays the first of two solo shows tonight (April 11), billed as ’An Evening With Peter Doherty’.

The event includes poetry, readings, acoustic songs and special guests, will take place at the Hackney Empire in London.

The second performance will take place on Thursday (April 12). Click back to NME.COM for full coverage from both gigs.