Pet Shop Boys

Chris Lowe (left) with Neil Tennant in a Pet Shop Boys concert, Boston, 2006

Pet Shop Boys are a pop group formed in 1981 comprising Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. According to the Guinness Book of Records they are the most successful duo in UK music history. They have achieved four UK number ones: "West End Girls" (also number one on the US Billboard Hot 100), "It's a Sin", a remake of Elvis Presley's "Always on My Mind" and "Heart". Other hit songs include a remake of The Village People's "Go West", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" (a satire of Thatcherism which exemplified them as ironists) and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (with Dusty Springfield).

"They have also consistently – if unintentionally – imbued their music with the 'open secret' of homosexuality, while maintaining an ambivalent public stance in relation to gay culture.