Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of thesynth-pop duoPet Shop Boys, which he formed withChris Lowe in 1981. He is the lead singer and main lyricist of the group. He was a journalist forSmash Hits and assistant editor for the magazine in the mid-1980s.
Tennant coined the phraseimperial phase to describe the period in which a musical artist is regarded to be at their commercial and creative peak simultaneously. This observation was initially self-referential, made as thePet Shop Boys had achieved commercial success with four British number one hits ("West End Girls", "It's a Sin", "Heart", and "Always on My Mind"), had received critical praise for their first three albums and had expanded their creative horizons through innovative collaborations in the visual and performing arts.[1]
Neil Francis Tennant was born in the town of North Shields, approximately 8 miles east of Newcastle upon Tyne, to William W. Tennant (1923–2009), a sales representative, and Sheila M. (Watson) Tennant (1923–2008).[2] He has an older sister, Susan, and two younger brothers, Simon and Philip.[3] The family moved to Greenfield Road (opposite the corner of South Bend), Brunton Park,Gosforth shortly after Neil was born.[4]
Tennant was raised as aRoman Catholic, and he served as analtar boy. He attended St Oswald's Catholic Primary School in Newcastle,[5] followed bySt Cuthbert's Grammar School, an all-boys Catholic secondary school. His songs "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" and "It's a Sin" refer to his time at St Cuthbert's and the strict upbringing there.[6][7]
Tennant taught himself to play guitar at the age of 12, using the tutorialsPlay in a Day byBert Weedon andHold Down a Chord byJohn Pearse. He started writing his own songs based around the chords he learned. He used his guitar studies to learn how to play the piano in his family home,[11] and he also played cello in school.[12]
In 1970, Tennant started afolk music group named Dust with Chris Dowell, a friend from the Young People's Theatre. They were heavily influenced byThe Incredible String Band. The group, which also featured two female friends, recorded a session of five songs that were broadcast onBBC Radio Newcastle in 1971.[13][14][15] Tennant wrote several of their songs including "Can You Hear the Dawn Break?", which he regards as his first "proper" song.[8]
Tennant left Newcastle in 1972 to study history atNorth London Polytechnic (now part ofLondon Metropolitan University), completing an honours degree in 1975. He then worked for two years as the production editor forMarvel UK, the UK branch ofMarvel Comics.[16] His job entailed compiling American comics into a weekly publication, anglicising the dialogue to suit British readers, and ensuring that risqué characters likeRed Sonja were redrawn with more modest clothing to make them suitable for the general audience of the weeklies.[17][18] He also wrote occasional features for the comics, including interviews with pop starsMarc Bolan andAlex Harvey.[19]
In 1977, Tennant moved to Macdonald Educational publishing,[17] where he editedThe Dairy Book of Home Management (1980)[20][21] and various illustrated books about cookery, playing the guitar and other home interests. He next worked at ITV Books, where he edited TV tie-in books, including one ofMary Berry's cookbooks.[14]
Tennant became acquainted with the staff ofSmash Hits when he commissioned the magazine's designer, Steve Bush, to design a book about the 1981Madness filmTake It or Leave It.Smash Hits editorDavid Hepworth offered Tennant a job editingThe Smash Hits Yearbook and also named him news editor of the magazine when he started work there in June 1982.[22][23] Tennant wrote features and reviews for the teen pop magazine[5] and also edited the yearbook from 1982 to 1985. He set up the American version,Star Hits, in New York in 1983, and he interviewed then up-and-coming singerMadonna.[24][16] Tennant became assistant editor ofSmash Hits,[12] and was offered the position of editor before his departure in 1985.[5]
During this period, Tennant continued to write music in asinger-songwriter style. He auditioned forRocket Records in 1973, and in 1981 he submitted a demo to other record companies without success. Some of his early songs were later released, including "Nothing Has Been Proved" (1989), performed byDusty Springfield, and "Nervously" (1990) and "Hey, Headmaster" (1993) byPet Shop Boys.[25]
Tennant performing atPori Jazz 2014 in Pori, Finland
Tennant metChris Lowe in August 1981 and they began their songwriting partnership shortly afterwards.[26] Describing their early sessions, Tennant recalled:
I'm playing acoustic guitar and he's playing these bass lines on a monophonic synthesizer. He's an experienced musician and can play the keyboard very fluently. Remember, at this point I'm 27, 28 years old...bass lines had never even occurred to me. We sort of released something in each other. There was immediately something there.[12]
Tennant was used to singing his own songs but initially had reservations about being a lead singer.[27][12] He started singing lessons after turning professional in 1985.[28] At Lowe's suggestion, he tried to make his lyrics more "sexy", writing about nightlife in theWest End of London where they spent time.[5]
In 1983, an opportunity arose for Tennant to go to New York to interviewThe Police forSmash Hits. While there, he arranged to meetBobby Orlando, a producer whom he and Lowe admired.[18] Tennant mentioned he was writing songs in his spare time, and Orlando agreed to record some tracks with him and Lowe at a later date. Orlando produced the Pet Shop Boys' first single, an early version of "West End Girls", in 1984.[29] Pet Shop Boys signed a deal withParlophone Records in March 1985, and Tennant leftSmash Hits the following month as he and Lowe, who was two-thirds of the way through an architecture degree, committed full time to a music career.[30]
In addition to his work with Chris Lowe as Pet Shop Boys, Tennant has worked on several side projects including:
In 1989, Tennant he worked withElectronic, singing backing vocals on their first single "Getting Away with It" and taking lead vocals on the 1992 single "Disappointed". Along with Lowe, he wrote and appeared on theElectronic album track "The Patience of a Saint", on which he shared lead vocals withBernard Sumner.[31]
In 1992, Tennant's backing vocals featured prominently on theBoy George single "The Crying Game"[32] and on the Cicero single "Love Is Everywhere".[33] Both reached the UK Top 40 singles chart.[34][35]
In August 1997, Tennant's vocals were featured on two live recordings by the British groupSuede that were released as b-sides to their single "Filmstar". One track was a cover of the Pet Shop Boys track "Rent", and the second was a duet with Suede singerBrett Anderson on the Suede song "Saturday Night".[36]
In 2005, Tennant provided lyrics and sang on the track "Tranquilizer" by DJ Tom Stephan (a.k.a.Superchumbo).[40] Under numerous guises and aliases, Stephan had previously remixed Pet Shop Boys tracks such as "Paninaro '95", "Minimal", "New York City boy" and "Sexy Northerner".
In June 2006, Tennant provided backing vocals on "Throw" byDJ Fresh.[41]
In 2023, Tennant provided vocals on "Skydive" by UK rapperCasisdead.[46]
In June 2024, Tennant appeared on theMichael Berkeley albumCollaborations, singing "Zero Hour", a song about Ukraine for which Tennant also wrote the lyrics.[47][48]
In April 2025, a collaboration between Tennant and composerMark Springer titledSleep of Reason was released. Tennant wrote the lyrics for a quintet for voice and strings, which he sang with theSacconi Quartet.[50]
In July 2025, Tennant provided vocals on the track "Sunshine on Catford" onKae Tempest's fifth studio albumSelf Titled.[51]
Tennant came out as gay in a 1994 interview inAttitude magazine.[53][54] Otherwise he remains quiet about his personal and romantic life, preferring to be a "man of mystery", as he states it.[55] He maintains a house in London. He owned a house inCounty Durham[56] but has since sold it.[57] He and Lowe also have an apartment in Berlin.[58]
Tennant has been a patron of theElton John AIDS Foundation.[59] In 1998, Tennant was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to theLabour Party.[60] However, in the2005 general election he voted for theLiberal Democrats, citing disillusionment with Labour'sID card scheme.[61] The Pet Shop Boys agreed to personal appeals by then-Mayor of LondonBoris Johnson and then-Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, both prominentConservative Party politicians, for the group to play at the "winners' parade" taking place shortly after the2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. Enjoying the event's atmosphere and how their stage presence turned into a well-received performance, Tennant subsequently texted Cameron's staff pushing Cameron to use gay scientistAlan Turing's centenary year as impetus for the UK Government to formally pardon Turing.[62] The formal pardon did go through on 24 December 2013, with the related official paperwork signed byQueen Elizabeth II.
Tennant has praised the groupThe Specials and singer-songwriterElvis Costello, highlighting "Ghost Town" and "Shipbuilding" asprotest songs successfully putting politics into pop music. He has criticised ageism in the music industry, stating in 2013 that radio professionals would tell him that they want to play Pet Shop Boys songs on air, but will not because the duo, then in their 50s, were considered to be "too old".[62]
ActorDavid Tennant adopted his stage name from Tennant when joiningEquity, as another actor was already registered with his birth name, David McDonald.[66][67][68]
^Ewing, Tom (28 May 2010)."Imperial".Pitchfork. Retrieved21 October 2022.I felt at this time that we had the secret of contemporary pop music, that we knew what was required. We entered our imperial phase.
^"The day Neil Tennant met Madonna"(PDF).Smash Hits. Vol. 9, no. 25. London. 30 December 1988. pp. 33–35. Retrieved23 July 2025 – via World Radio History.
^O'Leary, Dermot (interviewer); Tennant, Neil (interviewee) (20 May 2023).Reel Stories: Pet Shop Boys (television production). BBC Two. Event occurs at 13:30.
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