Paul Dufour, the original drummer for The Libertines, has died
Paul Dufour, the original drummer for The Libertines, has passed away. The band have paid tribute to their “much loved” former bandmate, who sat behind the kit before Gary Powell.
Addressing the sad news in a message posted on their Instagram account, The Libertines wrote: “Paul Dufour, our much loved drummer from the early days, passed away last night. We are all in great shock and sadness. Sending love and thoughts to Paul’s friends and family.”
The band added: “It was honour to play with you Mr Razzcocks. Forever in our hearts”. The message sits alongside an archive photo of Dufour and the band. As of yet, Dufour’s cause of death has not been revealed.
Taking to Twitter to give their condolences, one user posted a photo of himself posing with Dufour and his drum kit. “Had the pleasure of meeting him earlier this year. Was a really nice bloke that spoke very highly of his time in the band. Spoke to him for ages about it all.” Many others have sent their condolences to the band.
The band’s current drummer, Gary Powell, recently spoke about their forthcoming album. Giving the low-down on The Libertines’ much-anticipated third studio album, Anthems For Doomed Youth, Powell told NME: “The good thing is everybody’s been writing. I’m hoping there’s going to be a whole new fervour and interesting dimension added to how we approach things”.
He continued: “Obviously, we’re not going to try and reinvent the wheel and be like Depeche Mode going from rock ‘n’ roll to electronic, but I think we can push the boat out a little more while still bringing something that has the same emotional integrity and dynamism that the audience craves when they come to a Libertines show.”
You can find footage of The Libertines playing with original drummer Paul Dufour in 1999 below.
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