Neil Tennant
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Neil Francis Tennant (born July 10, 1954 in North Shields, Northumberland, United Kingdom) is a British musician who, with his colleague Chris Lowe makes up the successful British pop band the Pet Shop Boys. He is also involved as producer and singer with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr's Electronic project. In 1975, Neil worked for a brief time as an editor for the UK branch of Marvel Comics, anglicizing the dialogue of Marvel's then-current catalog to better suit English readers.
Tennant became interested in music at an early age; he played guitar and cello and began his professional music career in 1970, at the age of 16, in a band called Dust. He took a degree in History at the Polytechnic in North London in 1975.
Prior to forming the Pet Shop Boys with Chris Lowe in the early 80s, he enjoyed a stint at Smash Hits magazine. He used a Smash Hits junket to New York to interview The Police as an opportunity to talk to producer Bobby Orlando about producing some Pet Shop Boys material. Orlando later helped write nascient versions of key singles, including the Pet Shop Boys' first, "West End Girls".
Although in the 1980s he denied rumors that he was gay, Tennant declared his homosexuality publicly in 1994 and is now a solid supporter of lesbian and gay rights, making personal appearances at lesbian and gay pride celebrations throughout the world.
He and Chris are still working together after more than twenty years recording music, and are still proving a success on the dance music scene.
He has recently bought a house in North Shields in England's north east and installed a studio there, where some of the Pet Shop Boys' 2002 album Release was recorded.de:Neil Tennant