Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys has recently spoken about the worst moment of his life, which occurred during the duo’s performance at Glastonbury festival in 2022. Technical difficulties forced Tennant to perform six songs solo, while his bandmate Chris Lowe scrambled to set up a replacement keyboard. The screen the band uses in its shows rose only partly, leaving Lowe and Tennant speechless and unable to communicate with each other, meaning Tennant was forced to perform alone until his bandmate caught up. Despite the difficulties, the band also made headlines by performing with Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander.
In separate interviews, Tennant also shared his opinion on new music by Taylor Swift, calling it “disappointing”. Speaking of Swift, he asked, “What is Taylor Swift’s ‘Billie Jean’?” before questioning whether “Shake It Off” was anywhere near as iconic as Michael Jackson’s classic single. Friendly criticism aside, Pet Shop Boys themselves have been drawing praise for their recently released album, Nonetheless. In an interview with NME, Tennant spoke proudly of the record, calling it the duo’s “queer album” filled with classical references and unusual electronic Tempos.
Tennant also expressed his view that queer culture has become more mainstream in recent years, describing how he attended a performance of Kinky Boots on Broadway and was struck by the straight audience’s enthusiastic reception of the drag queens present on stage. Commenting on the recent release of It’s A Sin, he also stated that the straight community was finally coming to terms with the AIDS crisis and that the situation has improved a great deal from when he came out as gay in 1994.
In the NME review of Nonetheless, it was described as a ten-song short story collection, referencing esoteric cultural touchstones and featuring richly-drawn characters. Tracks such as “Feel” and “Bullet for Narcissus” have drawn acclaim, and the album has earned a 4-star rating from NME’s critic
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