Carl Ashley Raphael Barât (/bəˈrɑːt/; born 6 June 1978) is a British musician best known for being the co-frontman with Pete Doherty of the indie rock band the Libertines. He was the frontman and guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and in 2010 debuted a solo studio album. In 2014 he announced the creation of his new band, the Jackals.

Carl Barât was born in Basingstoke, north Hampshire, England, on 6 June 1978, and spent most of his childhood in nearby Whitchurch, Hampshire. In a September 2004 interview with Blender, Barât mentioned he is of French, Russian and Polish descent.

As a youth, Barât divided his time between his divorced parents. His father, a former artist, worked in an armaments factory, and his mother, Chrissie, was part of the commune-dwelling counterculture and a member of peace groups such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Barât spent part of his childhood living with his mother on a commune in Somerset. He has one sister, actress-turned-singer Lucie Barât, who played Helen's handmaiden in the 2004 film Troy, founded publishing house and artistic organization Little Episodes, and is currently the lead singer of the Au Revoirs. He also has three half-siblings, one step brother and one step sister.

In 1996, Barât was studying for a drama degree at Brunel University at the campus in St. Margarets, Twickenham. Although he dropped out halfway through, during his time he became well-acquainted with Pete Doherty's sister, Amy-Jo and through her, Barât met Doherty. They soon developed an intense friendship based on a shared interest in music and songwriting. Barât and Doherty also developed a shared mythology in which they were on a ship called 'The Albion' sailing to 'Arcadia'. After both dropped out of university, they formed the Libertines. The band includes bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell. Barât and Doherty are co-frontmen, sharing songwriting, vocal and guitar duties.

The Libertines' first album, Up the Bracket, was released in 2002 to critical acclaim. The band appeared on the cover of NME before the album was released and rapidly rose to fame in the UK. Referring to their relationship in a January 2010 interview, Barât said, "... it's a deep love. Deep love does funny things to people".

In 2003, Doherty's addiction to heroin and crack cocaine led Barât to ask him not to participate in the band's next tour. When Doherty discovered that the Libertines had left without him to perform in Japan he broke into Barât's Mayfair flat and stole various items, including an antique guitar and an NME Award. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison (this sentence was later shortened to two months). Barât warmly welcomed Doherty back to the Libertines on the day of his release, and they later performed an impromptu "Freedom Gig" at the Tap 'n' Tin club in Chatham, Kent on 8 October 2003. A photograph of the gig, taken by Roger Sargent, adorns the Libertines' self-titled second album, The Libertines, and the cover of Sargent's and Anthony Thornton's book, The Libertines Bound Together.

Doherty's drug addiction continued while the band worked on their second album (the aforementioned The Libertines) in 2004, which strained his relationship with Barât. Bodyguards were needed in the recording sessions, allegedly to prevent Barât and Doherty from physically assaulting each other (though this is claimed to be an exaggeration of the press in Bound Together) and to keep Doherty's hangers-on away from him. Before the release of the album in 2004, relations between Barât and Doherty reached a breaking point and Doherty was once again prevented from performing with the band before addressing his addictions. Doherty did not take the ultimatum well, especially as the Libertines continued touring without him to fulfill contractual obligations.

What was intended as a short leave of absence turned into something more permanent, as Doherty formed a new band, Babyshambles, and the Libertines officially disbanded after their final gig in December 2004.