We are very sad to hear that the legendary Frankie Knuckles has died. The word “legendary” is rather overused these days, but Frankie Knuckles was a true dance legend and a pioneer of house music. We were honoured to work with him in 1988 when he did his brilliant dark mix of “I want a dog”. It was so exciting to drive out to Jersey City to hear this mix for the first time in his studio and then drive back to New York with the mix on repeat. We were thrilled with it and included it on our album, Introspective. In 1990 Frankie came over to London to play at Chris’s birthday party at Brixton Academy and enthralled the crowd with his brilliant set. In the early days, House music was referred to as “Chicago House” after the city where it was invented — it was great to visit the city last year and see that a street had been named after the music’s inventor: Frankie Knuckles Way. Love and respect forever. xx
“Pet Shop Boys Annually 2025” will be published on April 4th, 2025 and is available to pre-order now at the link below. A brand new exclusive “Annually 2025” T‑shirt is also available to pre-order now.
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We have today received the sad news that Jack Bond, the director of our feature film, “It Couldn’t Happen Here” and the videos for “Always on my mind” and “Heart, died yesterday. Jack had a distinguished career making both feature films and documentaries. He supervised the Blu-ray re-release of our film in 2020 by the British Film Institute and, during a meeting about it, suggested making another film with us! He was a warm and funny man who we very much enjoyed working with and we send our love and condolences to his family and those close to him. x
A signed pair of Neil’s Celine shoes are being auctioned as part of the “Celebrity Shoe Auction 2024”, organised by the Small Steps Project. The auction closes on Thursday, 19 December, with proceeds supporting the children’s charity, which provides shoes and emergency aid to children living on landfill sites around the world. Place your bid now via the link below. Happy Christmas!
A new film, “Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped” will be broadcast on Saturday evening, December 14, on BBC2 TV in the UK. The film includes an interview with Neil who interviewed George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley when he worked for Smash Hits magazine in the early 80s. More information at the link below.
A new limited collection of Pet Shop Boys T‑shirts and hoodies, made in collaboration with Anti Social Social Club, is now exclusively available from their official Amazon Music store (USA only). Link to order below.
Pet Shop Boys’ “ICONS mix”, which Neil and Chris recorded earlier this year as part of BBC 6 Music’s “Loud and Proud” celebration, has been shortlisted for “ICONS Mix of the Year” by Mary Anne Hobbs. The exclusive 30-minute mix will be played out again on her 6Music show this Friday, 13th December at 12pm GMT, and afterwards will also be made available on BBC Sounds for 30 days.
The “Pet Shop Boys since 1984” tea set which is already available in our online store can, from tomorrow, be bought in person at Dover Street Market, 18–22 Haymarket, London SW1. It will also be available from DSM at the online link below.
The collection commemorates 40 years since the release of PSB’s debut single. Designed in partnership with their long-term collaborators Farrow, Tennant and Lowe present this limited-edition set featuring a teapot, cups and saucers, a milk jug and a sugar bowl. The pieces are manufactured by Duchess China in Stoke-on-Trent.
Photo: Kirby Koh/DSM
Neil has been interviewed by Jake Shears on his “Queer The Music” podcast, talking about the lyrics and the making of the PSB song “It’s a sin”, Pet Shop Boys’ creative process, collaborators and much more. The season finale episode is out now and available at the link below.
Alexei Gorinov, the first Russian citizen to be imprisoned for protesting against Russia’s war on Ukraine, has now been sentenced to three more years in prison on trumped-up charges. In court he made a heartfelt statement against the war. Read it at the link below. We salute his courage.