Talk

Neil Tennant

Festival of Ideas

Friday 3 May 2019 8.30 - 9.30pm

The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts

£20, £12

Sold out

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The singing half of the Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant, was joined by BBC radio presenter John Wilson to talk about pop, poetry and the art of songwriting.

Tennant formed the iconic electro-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys with Chris Lowe in 1981. Best known for hit songs including Being Boring, West End Girls and It’s a Sin, Tennant boasts a career that spans over four decades, thirteen studio albums and twenty-two top ten hits. Tennant has proved himself to be one of our most distinctive contemporary lyricists.

In conversation with John Wilson he discussed how, when, where and why he writes songs, who he looks to for lyrical inspiration, and how his early days as a music journalist at 80's pop magazine Smash Hits helped hone his unparalleled songwriting skills.

Neil Tennant has been working with Chris Lowe, the other half of the Pet Shop Boys for nearly 40 years. Their latest EP, Agenda, was released in February 2019 and they are working on a new album due for release later this year. As writers, producers and remixers, Tennant and Lowe have worked with artists including Dusty Springfield, Liza Minnelli, David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Madonna and The Killers as well as stage works including a ballet, The Most Incredible Thing, a musical, Closer to Heaven, and a soundtrack to the classic silent film, Battleship Potemkin.

John Wilson is host of Mastertapes and Front Row on BBC Radio 4 and has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, including Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and David Bowie.

This event was followed by a Q&A.

£20, £12

Sold out

Media Partner