Notorious rumors about the Pet Shop Boys

That "Pet Shop Boys" refers to a bizarre sexual practice
Status: FALSE

This rumor has dogged them from the start. As the story goes, "pet shop boys" is American slang for homosexuals who derive sexual gratification from putting hamsters up their behind. First of all, that particular alleged sexual practice is almost certainly homophobic urban myth since anyone who were to attempt such a thing would surely suffer horrific and potentially fatal injury. (A common variation on this rumor holds that the reference is to practitioners of less specific sadomasochistic activities.) As for the name, Neil and Chris assert that they borrowed their moniker from the nickname of some friends who indeed owned a pet shop, and they liked it because it sounded somewhat "hip-hoppish." They maintain steadfastly that they were shocked and amazed by the rumors that began to circulate shortly after they hit it big. Neil has said, perhaps somewhat jokingly, that Chris "has been embarrassed by the name Pet Shop Boys ever since."

That "Shep Pettibone" is an anagram of "Pet Shop Boys"
Status: FALSE

Well, setting aside the fact that "Shep Pettibone" is not, simply by definition, an anagram of "Pet Shop Boys" (where's the y and the second s in "Shep Pettibone," and where's the n and the second t in "Pet Shop Boys"?), this rumor led some people to think that "Shep Pettibone" was a pseudonym for the Pet Shop Boys (when Pettibone's career predates that of PSB by several years, although it didn't really take off until the Boys made the big time) and others to believe that "Pet Shop Boys" was an alias for Shep Pettibone (OK, so who were the two guys in the videos and interviews?). Needless to say, this one didn't last much longer than the first year or two of the Boys' international success.
That they're gay
Status: TRUE (with only a slight hedge)

This one—which surfaced very early on—of course proved at least half-true and almost certainly all true. Neil "came out" publicly in 1994. Chris, however, has proven more enigmatic. As far as I know he has never said the words "I am gay" within earshot of a reporter, but one can often read between the lines of his spoken statements and derive tacit assertions to that effect. And he has never denied that he's gay, despite such assertions in the press. At this point, rightly or wrongly, most fans and observers simply take it for granted.

That Chris and Neil are or have been lovers or met as "pickups"
Status: PROBABLY FALSE

They have repeatedly and adamantly denied this. As Neil once put it, "'We have a very close relationship, but it’s nothing to do with sex."

That one or both of them have AIDS or are HIV-positive
Status: AIDS - FALSE; HIV - UNCERTAIN

Gossip about one of both of them having AIDS was somewhat common in the early and mid-1990s. Such rumors zeroed in on Chris in 1997 when a British magazine published an article expressing concern for his health and alleging that he was looking "gaunt and thin." Again, Chris and Neil have repeatedly denied this, and they reportedly wrote "The Survivors" at least partly in response to the rumors. Lately the AIDS rumors have died down significantly, but fans still sometimes speculate as to whether one of them may be HIV-positive—which, especially in recent years, isn't the same as "having AIDS." But ultimately that's all it is: speculation.

That Chris Lowe and Peter Andreas were lovers
Status: UNCERTAIN

Peter Andreas was a personal assistant and close friend of the Pet Shop Boys. It is known that he and Chris lived together for several years (five according to some reports). Peter passed away in 1994 of AIDS-related illness. The song "Postscript," sung by Chris, was reportedly written for him (before his death), and the album Alternative was dedicated to him as well. Ever since, it has been widely rumored—and simply assumed by some—that Chris and Peter were lovers. This rumor has neither been confirmed nor, as far as I know, even acknowledged by the Pet Shop Boys.

That they're about to break up
Status: FALSE (duh!)

Rumors of the Pet Shop Boys breaking up seem to recur with remarkable regularity. The air was especially thick after the release of Discography, but Very put that particular outbreak to rest. Yet such rumors continue to crop out—even as recently as June 2004, apparently instigated (or at least propagated) by a Belgian radio DJ.

That Chris was killed in an automobile accident in Greece
Status: FALSE (double-duh!)

This rumor was rampant for a few weeks back in the mid-nineties. Subsequent public appearances, of course, proved it wrong. Thankfully, no "Chris is dead" mythology sprang up, probably because the Boys failed to carefully plant clues in their songs, videos, and album covers.

That the "Bizet Boys" were actually the Pet Shop Boys
Status: FALSE

This would have been ingenious if the record in question hadn't been so awful. In 1989 a single titled "Ride 'Em Carmen," performed by the "Bizet Boys," was released by the Pet Shop Boys' record label, Parlophone. Essentially, it was a dance-pop ditty that sounded like a bizarre cross between the can-can and "The Toreador Song" from Georges Bizet's great opera Carmen. The disc's sleeve boasted prominent question marks but no pictures of the "Bizet Boys," nor were the performers' full names apparent anywhere. The rumor quickly spread that the Bizet Boys were actually the Pet Shop Boys, perhaps collaborating with the then-popular boy band Bros. It wasn't true but, as it turns out, that rumor was precisely the intention. The brains behind "Ride 'Em Carmen" were none other than Tom Watkins—at the time the Pet Shop Boys' and Bros' manager—and Tony James of Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Their apparent plan to produce a hit via rumor failed; the record stiffed. The disc, however, is now something of a minor collector's item.

That Neil cried when he first heard New Order's "Blue Monday"
Status: PERHAPS

As related in an April 1996 article for the U.K. newspaper The Independent, Neil told interviewer Ben Thompson, "When 'Blue Monday' by New Order came out, I more or less burst into tears," presumably because it pre-empted the style of music that he and Chris had been planning to create as the Pet Shop Boys. It's the "more or less" equivocation that lends a touch of doubt to the literalness of Neil's story. Nevertheless, it has since then been repeatedly—and understandably—reported as outright fact, such as in a 2001 article in Mojo magazine. At other times, however, Neil has been quoted as saying, "I nearly burst into tears" (my emphasis on the "nearly") upon hearing New Order's classic. So whether he actually cried seems uncertain. It makes for a great anecdote, however.

That the Pet Shop Boys once refused to work with Petula Clark
Status: MAYBE (depending on the actual facts and how you look at them)

Neil once told journalist Steve Pafford, "Because we produced Liza Minnelli and Dusty Springfield, we've been approached by every single female artist in the world to make a record with them. Actually, that's not an exaggeration—with the exception of Barbra Streisand.… We once got a letter from someone claiming to be Petula Clark but we don't know if it was real or not. 'Dear Boys, please work with me, love Petula.' I still don't know if it was her.” So it would seem the Boys simply ignored the request, not knowing for sure whether it was "authentic." Whatever the case, Neil asserted that he and Chris weren't interested in collaborating with any other female singers (aside possibly from some unknown), almost certainly out of fear of establishing an regrettable reputation for themselves along those lines.

For her part, Petula Clark said to an interviewer in 2007, "Dusty Springfield and Liza Minnelli allowed themselves to be abused by Pet Shop Boys a bit. Their new repertoire adds absolutely nothing to their careers. [Webmaster's note: That's hardly how Liza and Dusty felt about it, both of whom enjoyed hits and career resurgences as a result of collaboring with PSB.] If a producer contacts me for an interesting project, I will certainly react. But not if they're called Pet Shop Boys.” Could this be a genuine case of sour grapes, the result of Petula having indeed been ignored by Neil and Chris? Or was the request allegedly from Petula to the Boys in fact a fake and her feelings about PSB not at all the result of any perceived rejection? We may never know for sure.

That "The Theatre" contains a loop of someone saying the word "arsehole"
Status: FALSE

Neil flatly denied this rumor in an interview conducted by journalist Steve Pafford in the July 2002 issue of the U.K. magazine Gay Times.

That Neil and Kevin Spacey were an "item"
Status: FALSE

In late 2003 and early 2004, there was talk going around—including at least two separate newspaper reports—that Neil and Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey dined together regularly, with the implication that the two were lovers. This rumor was quickly and vigorously refuted by Neil, who attributed it to the gossip press trying to imply that Spacey is gay, a thoroughly rampant rumor in its own right. (That Spacey is indeed gay was finally confirmed, once and for all, in 2017 under less than ideal circumstances.) Neil was understandably upset that gossipmongers would try to exploit his open gayness in such a fashion. Apparently the two men had never actually met, at least at the time the story surfaced. Although this rumor soon subsided, it has briefly recurred a few times since then. Good rumors die hard. It's enough to make me wonder, however, whether the person who first dreamed this story up may have been inspired by the fact that, at the time, Neil had a pet dog named Kevin.

That the Pet Shop Boys aren't really gay after all
Status: FALSE (again with only that slight hedge)

Perhaps the most remarkable PSB rumor of all, discussed on a regular basis on various Internet fansites. The supposed rationale is that the Boys foster their "gay image" so as not to be pestered by overzealous female fans and/or to boost their "cred" and popularity in the realm of dance music. (Don't look for logic here, people.) Although, as far as I know, Chris has never come right out (so to speak) and publicly said, "I'm gay," I suspect the rumor can pretty much be ascribed to wishful thinking on the part of certain fans.

A major corollary has more recently surfaced, linking Neil romantically with his friend and frequent social companion, U.K. media executive/personality Janet Street-Porter. To comment much further on the basic absurdity of such rumors would be akin to flogging the proverbial dead horse. Then again, I suspect that at least some proponents are fully aware of this absurdity. In other words, there may be a bit of ironic "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" playfulness in their online gossip, as though they know full well that the rumors are ridiculous but nevertheless enjoy pretending to believe them.

That the Pet Shop Boys have remixed New Order's "True Faith"
Status: FALSE

This one is so pervasive that it perhaps goes beyond the status of mere rumor. A surprisingly large number of websites refer to a "Pet Shop Boys remix" of the New Order classic "True Faith." This particular mix was even reportedly used in an episode of the U.S. version of Queer As Folk. While "True Faith" did indeed appear in such an episode (I know because I watched it), it was not a "Pet Shop Boys remix." The Pet Shop Boys themselves have denied that any such remix exists. It's difficult to say how this error originated. It could be that someone—possibly under the influence of a mind-altering chemical—saw that there was a "Perfecto remix," part of the "True Faith '94" single release, and misinterpreted it as a "Pet Shop Boys remix," and the mistake simply perpetuated itself from that point on. There's also a Shep Pettibone remix, so perhaps the combination of Shep's "Pet…" surname and/or his frequent early remixing work for the Boys resulted in some confusion. Unauthorized file-sharing may have played a role as well. That is, if someone were to have distributed an audio file of "True Faith" that they said is a "Pet Shop Boys remix," then that would explain the many online references to something that doesn't really exist.

That Robbie Williams's album Intensive Care would feature collaborations with the Pet Shop Boys
Status: FALSE (but…)

The Pet Shop Boys and U.K. pop superstar Robbie Williams constitute something of a mutual admiration society; Robbie is a professed admirer of the Boys' music, having covered "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing," while Neil provided backup vocals for Robbie's hit "No Regrets." So it sounded entirely reasonable when, several months before its release, word spread rapidly on the Internet that Robbie Williams's late 2005 album Intensive Care would include one or more tracks written (or co-written) and/or produced by the Pet Shop Boys. Alas, however, this was not the case. Although one might argue that some of the album betrays a distinct PSB influence—an advance reviewer stated that Robbie's singing style in the song "Sin Sin Sin" (its title itself suggestive) closely resembles Neil's own vocal style—neither of the Boys were directly involved with the album's writing or recording.

But false rumors sometimes have a way of becoming true. As it turns out, the Pet Shop Boys subsequently collaborated with Robbie on two tracks on Rudebox, the 2006 follow-up to Intensive Care. One of those tracks is a song they wrote with him titled "She's Madonna." The other is a remake of the My Robot Friend track "We're the Pet Shop Boys," which Neil and Chris themselves covered in 2003.

That "Minimal" samples the voice of an "artificial dog"
Status: PROBABLY FALSE

This is actually two rumors rolled into one. Even before the album Fundamental was officially released, the online PSB community was rife with the rumor that the chorus of one of its tracks, "Minimal," featured samples of the voice of the robot dog K-9 from the Doctor Who TV series. (If this were true, it would qualify as an entry in my list of PSB/Doctor Who connections.) That rumor soon faded away, only to be replaced later on by the more persistent rumor that the "Minimal" chorus actually sampled the voice of the roaming troubadour dog K.K. Slider from the Nintendo game Animal Crossing: Wild World. Neither of these rumors have been confirmed by the PSB camp. A comparison of the voices/sounds in question does reveal similarities—but, most likely, nothing more. At least as far as this commentator is concerned, the rumors are understandable but unfounded.

That one (or both) of them is secretly the father of one or more children
Status: ALMOST CERTAINLY FALSE

A likely corollary to #12 above. A rumor began making the rounds in late 2006 that Chris is secretly the father of one or more children who are in the highly circumspect care of a nanny. By mid-2007 the focus of this story shifted to Neil as the "secret father." In one variation, Neil regularly calls on his alleged offspring (two of them) at their home in the German city of Bremen, which accounts for the Boys' frequent visits to that country. While by no means outside the realm of possibility, any and all versions of this rumor are almost certainly untrue.

That the Pet Shop Boys would be collaborating with Britney Spears and/or Paris Hilton
Status: FALSE

As January 2007 came to a close, a number of entertainment-related websites were reporting that, as part of a major comeback bid, U.S. pop singer Britney Spears was lined up to collaborate with the Pet Shop Boys on her new album. Some sites even suggested that it was a fait accompli. Word spread so widely and so quickly that the Boys themselves felt the need to refute it on their official website. This rumor conceivably might have begun with Britney stating somewhere that she would very much like to work with the Pet Shop Boys, with the story mushrooming from there. Around the same time, similar rumors cropped up about the Boys working with Paris Hilton—or at the least doing a remix for her—but these, too, proved false.

That Disco 4 would be released in summer 2007
Status: ESSENTIALLY TRUE (only the timing was off)

In June 2007, online PSB fandom buzzed with the rumor that the Pet Shop Boys would release Disco 4, the fourth in their series of Disco albums, later that summer, with "Integral" (most likely a new remix) also to be released as a single from it. Word that they might release such an album wasn't surprising in and of itself, but rather that it might appear so soon after Disco 3. (Disco was released in 1986, Disco 2 in 1994, and Disco 3 in 2003, so a Disco 4 wasn't "due" until around 2011-2012.) Fueling this rumor was the fact that several reputable commercial websites had indeed listed Disco 4 and an "Integral" single as pending releases! This rumor proved essentially true, although Disco 4 would ultimately appear in October 2007 rather than late summer, and (much to fans' surprise) it would consist primarily of PSB remixes of tracks by other artists. Also, "Integral" wasn't released as a single except as a DJ promo and a digital download.

That PSB wrote a song titled "Fill Me with Desire" for Kylie Minogue
Status: FALSE (but with perhaps some factual inspiration)

At least two different U.K. papers reported in mid-July 2007 that the Pet Shop Boys had written a song titled "Fill Me with Desire" for Kylie Minogue and had recorded it with her with an eye toward including it on her next album. It was even supposedly a prime candidate for her next single. But it turns out that there's no such song or recording. That being said, Chris and Neil did write some other songs around that same time—including the subsequently released "Pandemonium" and "A Certain 'Je Ne Sais Quoi'" as well as the still unreleased "You're the Exception That Proves the Rule"—that they indeed submitted to Kylie for consideration, but which she ultimately rejected. So there seems to have been at least a germ of truth to the rumor, despite those newspapers having gotten the specific details incorrect.

That Neil and Chris pseudonymously remixed Alison Moyet's single "Whispering Your Name"
Status: FALSE

This rumor began soon after the 1994 release of this single by former Yaz/Yazoo singer Alison Moyet, and it periodically resurfaces from time to time. Both the single itself and the "extended single mix" were remixed by a pair of guys credited as "Johnny Nitrate" and "Steve Rocket"—names that certainly sound like pseudonyms and which have apparently never appeared as credits anywhere else before or since. Fueling the speculation about who Johnny Nitrate and Steve Rocket may be is the fact that, at least to many ears, these remixes bear a strong stylistic resemblance the work of Very-era (that is, the contemporary) Pet Shop Boys. For nearly two decades, this rumor had never been denied, confirmed, nor refuted, which left it in the realm of possibility. But finally, in January 2012, Alison herself denied PSB involvement in an exchange on Twitter, which was shortly afterward seconded by a reliable source within the PSB organization.

The chief alternate theory is that Johnny Nitrate and Steve Rocket are, collectively, a pseudonym for Ian Broudie of Lightning Seeds fame, who served as the original producer of the track. According to this theory, he adopted this "dual pseudonym" because he knew full well that the remixes bore a strong stylistic similarity to the Boys' work of the period and therefore credited the remix to two pseudonyms as a subtle nod to the duo. Another very popular candidate is Alison's former Yaz/Yazoo bandmate Vince Clarke, who already has a different remix of the track to his credit. All theories aside, it remains a mystery—except that they're not Neil and Chris.

That "Closer to Heaven" contains a sample from an episode of Frasier
Status: FALSE

The Wikipedia entry for the album Nightlife at one time stated that the song "Closer to Heaven" contains a speech sample from the episode "The Matchmaker" from the second season of the hit U.S. TV comedy Frasier. But it didn't offer a source for this information, and I've been unable to find any corroborating evidence. What's more, I've repeatedly listened very carefully to that track at rather high volume, and I simply can't discern any such sample. Clinching the matter, a reliable source within the PSB organization has confirmed that no such sample exists. Tellingly, the reference to the alleged Frasier sample has since been deleted from the Wikipedia entry.

That the Pet Shop Boys were killed in plane crash over Indonesia
Status: FALSE (again, duh!)

The Boys' record company, Parlophone, received at least two calls in early 2008 from U.K. radio station personnel asking whether it was true that Neil and Chris had been killed in a plane crash in Indonesia. Parlophone was quite pleased to inform them that there was no truth to the rumor.

That they recorded a James Bond theme with Amy Winehouse
Status: FALSE

On May 21, 2008, NME relayed the "hot gossip" that the Pet Shop Boys had been working on the theme to the upcoming James Bond film Quantum of Solace and were interested in recording it with singer Amy Winehouse. The very next day the infamous Sun published a slightly more detailed article, presenting the rumor more or less as fact. And from there various other papers quickly picked up the story. But the Boys wasted no time quashing this tale, stating on their official website that the Sun article was "totally made-up … complete with fictional quotes." Apparently it all stemmed from Neil mentioning in passing during his onstage interview less than a week earlier at the Brighton Festival that he and Chris wouldn't mind working with Amy, but they thought it unlikely to happen. A local journalist then, as Neil put it, "claimed to have had a private interview with me backstage … and wrote up this fake story complete with invented 'quotes' from me."

That "Miracles" was inspired by the suicide of the lover of one of Neil's friends
Status: FALSE

Neil has specifically denied this rumor, which has been repeated at least several times online (including this site until I was corrected) and even on television. As Neil put it, the song was actually inspired by "the miracle of someone's living presence."
That Neil Tennant is a fully qualified rugby referee
Status: FALSE

Probably inspired by Neil's brief appearance as a ref in the "DJ Culture" music video—although, if I'm not mistaken, there he was officiating soccer/football, not rugby. This rumor (described by some as a "musical urban legend") was started by music journalist and TV/radio presenter Stuart Maconie back in his days as an assistant editor with NME. It appeared in a regular comedy "Believe It or Not" column devoted to spoof stories about pop stars. Ever since then it's been sporadically stated as a "fact" among fans of both sports and pop music between drinks in pubs. (Bernard Sumner also once jokingly alluded to it, as if it were factual, during his appearance on the 1989-1991 U.K. TV show Star Test. He claimed that Neil had officiated at a rugby match where he [Bernard] had first met Johnny Marr.) Among the other spoofs that Maconie apparently devised were that U.K. game show host Bob Holness played the famous sax solo in Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" (it was actually Raphael Ravenscroft), that David Bowie invented the game "Connect 4," and—most delightfully of all—that Erasure's Andy Bell is worshipped as a god on a remote Greek island.
That the Boys have remixed one or more tracks by Amanda Lear
Status: FALSE

In June 2010 an Italian radio personality reportedly asserted that the Pet Shop Boys were in the process of remixing one or more old dance tracks by model-singer-songwriter-actress-writer-media figure Amanda Lear, who enjoyed a string of disco/dance hits in Europe in the 1970s and '80s. (She's had no U.S. pop or dance hits, however.) But subsequent word from the PSB camp put a firm kibosh on this particular rumor.
That Neil had died in a terrible automobile accident
Status: FALSE

A rumor first cropped up in September 2010 and was resurrected, zombie-like, in January 2013 and again in July, September, and December 2015—at which point it became apparent that it would thenceforth recur on a regular basis—that Neil had been killed in a terrible automobile accident while driving recklessly at nearly twice the posted speed limit. It was initially generated by the repulsive "Fake a Wish" website (for which I refuse to provide my customary hyperlink), which facilitates the creation and spread of false "news stories"—and often quite badly written ones at that—about any celebrity of one's choosing. Among the other reported victims of this hoax-enabler have been Rick Astley, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Miley Cyrus, Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Natalie Portman, and Britney Spears. The fact that this vile tool is called "Fake a Wish"—an obvious takeoff on the noble and benevolent Make a Wish Foundation—underscores its fundamental mean-spiritedness. That certain people might actually wish such horrible things on other people, celebrities or otherwise, does nothing to elevate my own generally pessimistic view of human nature.

And please don't waste your time telling me to "lighten up." Anyone who knows me knows that I have a pretty good sense of humor. Hell, just reading this website should reveal that much about me. But when it comes to crap like this, I ain't gonna do it.
That they might write the U.K.'s 2011 Eurovision song entry
Status: FALSE (but with a quibble)

According to a late 2010 report in the Press and Journal of northern Scotland, Aberdeen taxi driver and devoted semi-pro Eurovision fan Kevin Sherwin said that rumors have been spreading about the Pet Shop Boys possibly being approached to write the United Kingdom's 2011 entry in the much-loved/much-loathed (depending on your perspective) Eurovision song contest. This raises an intriguing question: when someone in the public eye says that something is a rumor, then is it a rumor? Then again, the rumor wasn't that they had been approached; only that someone (but who?) was seriously considering approaching them. So it was a rumor that something may occur but, then again, may not. If you ask me, it sounded like less than a rumor and more like wishful thinking. As it turned out, the U.K. "boy band" Blue would end up representing their country at Eurovision 2011, singing "I Can," a song composed by two of its members, Duncan James and Lee Ryan—not Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant.

That they would support the reunited Take That on tour
Status: TRUE

The rumor began circulating in early March 2011—possibly triggered by a short-lived premature posting on stage designer Es Devlin's website—that the Pet Shop Boys would be supporting the reunited boy band Take That on their much-anticipated U.K. tour, serving as their opening act. When asked about this later that same month, Chris reportedly demured with a sly "No comment." A few days later, however, when similarly confronted with the rumor, Neil is said to have replied, "Don't be ridiculous." Yet on April 4, the Pet Shop Boys' official website announced that they would indeed be appearing as "special guests" for Take That's Progress Live 2011 Tour in the U.K., Ireland, and continental Europe, which began in late May. (Come to think of it, "Don't be ridiculous" isn't technically a denial. )

While such a move at this late stage of the Boys' career seems surprising, it makes sense (as more than one fan has pointed out online) from a purely commercial standpoint. Take That were hugely popular in their heyday, so their 2010 reunion generated massive attention, not to mention equally massive nostalgia and sales. Combine that with the fact that member Robbie Williams is a bona fide superstar solo artist in Britain, and you realize that the upcoming tour would inevitably prove a tremendous success, playing to vast audiences. As a support act, PSB was seen and heard by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) that they might not otherwise so readily reach. So if Neil and Chris were willing to swallow that bit of their pride that they might have to sacrifice to take such a support role—mitigated no doubt by their designation as "special guests"—their bank accounts surely thanked them for it.
That the post-Elysium dance album would be titled Ecstatic and would be released in April 2013
Status: FALSE—but not off by too much

In January 2013 a rumor began circulating that the upcoming dance album that the Boys had been alluding to since even before the release of Elysium would be titled Ecstatic and would be released as early as April. The apparent source of this rumor is a fan who said that he had been told this by Neil himself at a record signing. Lending some credence to the story is the fact that the January 2013 issue of the Boys' official fan club publication Literally said that the album (its title unspecified) might be released "sooner than you think." The facts proved to be—as the Pet Shop Boys formally announced on March 14, 2013—that the new album would be titled Electric—not Ecstatic—and would be released in June (later updated to July). So the rumor was off by just two or three months and a few letters of the alphabet.
That Neil had been struck in the face and the resulting bruises made him avoid photographers for a while
Status: UNKNOWN

This rumor, which apparently first got going in the early 1990s and has resurfaced from time to time ever since, seems to have stemmed from some of the covers for the "Jealousy" single (one of which is shown here on the right), which had a decidedly "unretouched" appearance. But that renders at least part of the rumor nonsensical: if Neil's alleged bruises had made him shun photographers, why on earth would he then sit for a photographer to immortalize them in such a high-profile manner? I suspect the Boys were aiming for a grim cinéma vérité quality to their "Jealousy" shots—appropriately given the song's subject matter—and, if anything, decided to accentuate a somewhat unattractive appearance for themselves, either avoiding the use of makeup and/or photo-airbrushing (although the fillings in Chris's teeth were airburshed out for his photo), or maybe even employing such artificial means to make themselves look less attractive than they really are. As for whether Neil had indeed been struck in the face—either by another person or in some sort of accident—probably no one knows for sure except Neil himself. As long as he's silent on the matter, it remains a rumor and nothing more.
That the Pet Shop Boys would perform at Coachella
Status: FALSE at first, but eventually TRUE

In 2009 and again in 2013 rumors circulated online that the Pet Shop Boys would perform at the famed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held in April most years (though not quite annually) since 1999 in the desert community of Indio in southern California's Coachella Valley. Those rumors proved false, although festival organizers reported that the Boys are perennial favorites on Coachella online message boards. Some of the biggest names in popular music have performed through the years at Coachella, including Paul McCartney, Madonna, Prince, Radiohead, Oasis, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Duran Duran, The Killers, Jay-Z, The Cure, Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, Blur, Florence and the Machine, Björk, and many others, so an eventual PSB appearance seemed almost inevitable. A reviewer (Ben Wener) for the Orange County Register of their October 12 concert in Los Angeles—the final stop on the U.S. leg of their 2013 Electric Tour—even all but begged them to return to SoCal for Coachella 2014. And, sure enough, the following January the Pet Shop Boys announced that they would indeed perform in April at Coachella 2014, thereby turning false rumors belatedly true.
That Neil has written an autobiography titled Petipedia
Status: FALSE

In early February 2014 online postings appeared that alleged Neil had written a soon-to-be-published autobiography that would be titled Petipedia. In it, so these postings claimed, Neil describes (among other things) how David Bowie and Elton John purportedly "hate" each other out of mutual jealousy: Elton envying David's critical cachet and David begrudging Elton's commercial success. But this allegation about an autobiography was immediately quashed by a reliable source within the PSB organization, who asserted, "It's a fantasy." As it turns out, the rumor was triggered by an article that briefly appeared online about a prospective PSB biography (not autobiography). This article, however, was very quickly taken down following questions raised about the authenticity of the statements by Neil related to David and Elton. (This is not to say that those statements were necessarily inauthentic—alleged quotations along the same lines have appeared in print media, such as in the March 2016 issue (#194) of the Australian magazine DNA—but rather only that questions remained to be answered about them.)
That Neil suffered a major heart attack in Germany
Status: FALSE

Also in early February 2014—apparently a time rife with falsehoods about Neil—came a horrible online report that Neil had sufferent a major heart attack while visiting Germany and was unconscious, in critical condition, in the intensive-care unit of a Bremen hospital. The story spread rapidly, but was very quickly debunked by various far more reputable sources, including the official PSB website itself. Neil wasn't even in Germany at the time, much less in poor health.
That the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with Duran Duran
Status: UNCERTAIN

There were published reports in late 2003 that Neil and Chris were collaborating with members of Duran Duran on writing and/or recording new music. Those reports went unconfirmed by both bands' camps, and no such music ever materialized. So either the report was false to begin with or those efforts proved short-lived and came to naught.
That the Pet Shop Boys were behind the January 2016 "What Is Super?" promotional campaign and that it refered to the title of either their soon-to-be-released new album or its first single
Status: TRUE

On January 14, 2016, yours truly (the webmaster of this site) only half-wittingly started this rumor after having encountered a short, mysterious "What Is Super?" ad on YouTube, accompanied by a synth fanfare that, to my ears, sounded more than vaguely PSB-ish. Both here on my website and on the Pet Shop Boys Community Forum, I shared my speculation about this ad, wondering whether it meant that the new PSB album scheduled for release in Spring 2016, or at least its first single, might be titled Super. In very short order, dozens of other members of the forum joined in on the speculation, the large majority agreeing that, yes, it seemed to be PSB-related. Some of them soon discovered and reported additional components of the ad campaign: a "What Is Super?" website, Facebook and Instagram pages, and Twitter account, as well as "What Is Super?" posters and billboards popping up in various cities, including London, Paris, and Berlin. In addition, one forum member astutely observed that Kompact Label Services, the distributor and support organization for the Pet Shop Boys' own label x2, appeared to be behind it all. Within a few days, numerous other websites and publications reported on the growing phenonemon. In short, it turned viral—well, at least among PSB fans. (Unfortunately, it seems that hardly anyone else noticed.) Meanwhile, the various "What Is Super?" postings indicated that something "Super" would occur at 1:00 p.m. GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on Thursday, January 21. When that time arrived, it was revealed that, yes, the Boys were behind the campaign and that Super was indeed the title of their new album, with a release date set for April 1.

And as a corollary to this to this rumor, some PSB fans began speculating online that I was in active collusion with—perhaps even in the employ of—the PSB organization to spread this rumor in the first place. Status: FALSE. It all happened exactly as I've said. It was pure coincidence that I was apparently the first either to stumble on the "What Is Super?" campaign or at least to tie it to the Pet Shop Boys and to report my theory. As I've said elsewhere, if I had been out for the evening instead of tooling around on YouTube when that occurred, those distinctions would very likely have gone to somebody else.
That the Pet Shop Boys had recorded a track titled "The Stonk" and slated it as a single
Status: FALSE

Around mid-2003, a rumor began circulating in PSB fandom that the Boys had recorded a track called "The Stonk" and were planning to release it as a single. Although Neil squelched this rumor in short order with an online posting, it continued to surface off and on for at least two years thereafter. But all indications are that our musical heroes never recorded such a track, much less considered putting out a single with that title. It's unknown, incidentally, whether this alleged PSB song was supposed to have been an original or a remake of the 1991 Comic Relief single "The Stonk" by the British comedy duo Hale and Pace, which made it all the way up to #1 on the U.K. charts. In a bizarre instance of "PSB linkage," the flipside of this charity single was "The Smile Song" by fellow comedian Victoria Wood, who had reportedly wanted to record it with Neil and Chris. But they declined, so she settled by including them among the pop stars she parodied in its music video. (See #37 in my list of performance parodies of the Boys.)

That there's a hidden track at the end of Super
Status: FALSE

This very short-lived rumor emerged about a week before the April 1, 2016 release of Super, purporting that the album concludes with a short hidden instrumental that plays after "Into Thin Air" following a few minutes of silence, just as "Postscript" followed "Go West" on Very. Some fans speculated that this might be "The Lost Room," which Neil had recently mentioned as a "bonus track" that would somehow be associated with Super. But the kibosh was quickly put on this rumor by Neil himself, who affirmed, "There is no hidden track." Of course, Neil's statement would be further confirmed—as if any further confirmation were needed—by the release of the album itself, on which no hidden track appears. As it happens, this rumor was triggered by a very poor-quality advance "bootleg" of the album that indeed ended with a mysterious instrumental appendage that apparently had nothing whatsoever to do with the Boys themselves.

That a chimpanzee would be featured in the music video for "Monkey Business"
Status: FALSE

One of the sillier and, again, more short-lived PSB rumors was repeated a few times among online fans that a real, live chimpanzee would appear in the soon-to-be-released music video for the third Hotspot single, "Monkey Business." It of course proved false, probably originating with a fan who simply thought it would be a cute idea. It may, however, have been triggered by the fact that while the pertinent verse was excised from the song's "radio edit," the word "chimpanzee" is indeed found in the lyrics of the complete album version.

That the Boys pulled out from the 2021 BRIT Awards show on account of "creative differences"
Status: FALSE—but with a question

Almost immediately after the May 11, 2021 BRIT Awards broadcast, during which Elton John and Olly Alexander performed a duet cover of "It's a Sin," rumors began to circulate—and were repeated in print the very next day by The Sun—that the Pet Shop Boys had been scheduled take part in that live rendition of their classic hit, but they had pulled out only a few days before the show on account of "creative differences." The rumors went on to suggest that those alleged creative differences concerned how "gay" they perceived the presentation to be, the unstated part being that the Boys themselves had objected to the high level of "gayness" and wanted something more "general." But Neil and Chris immediately countered those reports with a statement on their official website, asserting unequivocally that "creative differences" were not the reason for their no-show. Rather, the blame fell on "a contractual issue" that could not be resolved in time for the broadcast. They noted proudly that they had co-produced (with Stuart Price) the studio recording of Elton and Olly's duet (which had already been released as a charity single) and that they, along with Elton and Olly, had approved "the staging and casting ideas." This latter point was subsequently confirmed by a spokesperson for the BRIT Awards. But Variety magazine later reported that U.K. music industry gossip was awash with rumors that the actual problem lay in a major clash of egos, specifically regarding the order in which Elton and PSB would be "credited," perhaps not on the TV broadcast itself but on the charity single that immediately followed in its wake, where the order of the credits would likely be more of a factor. Could this be the "contractual issue" the Boys referred to?

Finally, though they're not really "rumors" per se, they are apparent misunderstandings that writers have reported about the Pet Shop Boys but which demand correction:

That Neil had been a yo-yo champion at school
Status: FALSE

Very early in the Boys' career, a story appeared in the press that Neil had been a champion yo-yo'er at St. Cuthbert's Grammar School, twice successfully defending his non-stop record of 4 hours, 27 minutes. This alleged feat was recounted in the unauthorized 1988 publication Pet Shop Boys Special, and much later repeated right here on my website. But, as it turns out, Neil had forthrightly denied this tale in the June 1991 issue of their Fan Club publication Literally: "I've never heard that story before and it certainly isn't true. I was never very good at yoyo-ing and I can't ever remember there being a yoyo championship at any of the schools I went to."
That Neil once produced an EP for Crazy Pink Revolvers
Status: FALSE

The 1991 book Pet Shop Boys: Introspective by Michael Cowton contains a sentence that will throw an attentive reader for the proverbial loop. Following a description of Chris's visit home with his parents in Blackpool during the Christmas season of 1987, Cowton writes:

While all this was going on, Neil was tucked away in a studio completing the production of a 4-track EP on ABC Records for Crazy Pink Revolvers.

What!? When I read this—not for the first time, but for the first time so attentively that I actually caught it—I rushed to my computer to conduct the requisite research. Who or what was "Crazy Pink Revolvers," and how could this production work of Neil's have escaped me and, it would seem, every other PSB fan as well?

As it turns out, it was a false alarm triggered by an apparent misunderstanding on Mr. Cowton's part. Crazy Pink Revolvers was a four-man London-based rock band formed in 1986 who released several records (two albums and three EPs and singles) in the two years that followed. All of their releases on the ABC label (the second album and the second and third EP/singles) were produced by a pair of gentlemen named Neil O'Connor and Phil Tennant. So it would appear that Cowton somehow conflated the names Neil O'Connor and Phil Tennant into Neil Tennant and thus incorrectly attributed the Crazy Pink Revolvers' production oversight to one-half of the Pet Shop Boys.

But then I was struck a second time: doesn't Neil have a brother named Phillip? Yes, he does! So could this Phil Tennant be Neil's brother? So again I conducted some quick research. It so happens that this Phil Tennant is a fairly prolific producer (one writer referred to him as "legendary") active in the U.K. music industry for more than two decades starting in the mid-eighties, having worked at various times with such well-known artists as The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Waterboys, Madness, The Go-Gos, Uriah Heep, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, and many others (though sometimes in roles other than producer, such as recording engineer). Unfortunately, so far I haven't been able to track down any biographical information about him. But I asked myself: If this Phil Tennant really were Neil's brother, wouldn't we have heard about it long before now?

The answer, I would think, has to be "Yes." So I must assume that the producer Phil Tennant is not the Phillip Tennant who is Neil Tennant's brother. Unless, that is, someone can correct me on that point and provide evidence to the contrary.

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