The Pet Shop Boys Are Having a Renaissance. What Have They Done To Deserve This?

This is a great moment to be the Pet Shop Boys. The ultimate Eighties synth-pop duo are having a renaissance right now, just in time for the 40th anniversary of their classic hit “West End Girls.” They have a brilliant new album, Nonetheless, their zippiest of this century and one of their best ever. New fans are discovering them in films like Saltburn and All of Us Strangers. They even scored the ultimate 2024 status symbol: a beef with Drake, after Aubrey Graham used “West End Girls” without permission for “All The Parties.”

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have been musical partners for over 40 years, without hating each other or breaking up or going stale. The London duo blew up in the 1980s, writing deeply weird hits about sex and money, from “Rent” to “Opportunities” to “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” Neil was the chatty singer, Chris the deadpan synth boy. The Petties brought divas like Liza Minnelli and Dusty Springfield back to pop radio. They made their electro-sleaze trilogy of Please, Actually, and Introspective. Yet they topped it with their 1993 coming-out album Very, a queer pop landmark. Cardi B has been a proud superfan her entire life.