May 2008

On May 2 the Pet Shop Boys appear at Heaven nightclub in London, playing a four song set as part of Can You Bear It?, a benefit for Dainton Connell’s family. For the final song they are joined by Suggs and Carl from Madness, in rambunctious high spirits, to perform a dance version of Madness’s “My Girl”: “It was a very emotional night”.

October 2008

On October 27 a Pet Shop Boys-produced single by the British artist Sam Taylor-Wood, “I’m in love with a German film star”, is released on the cult German dance label Kompakt. It is the Pet Shop Boys’ third collaboration with Sam Taylor-Wood though the previous one was released under the pseudonym Kiki Kokova. The song is an electronic reinterpretation of the 1981 single by the Passions, a suggestion of Neil’s.

December 2008

This year’s annual Christmas single from the Killers — “Joseph (Better You Than Me)” — is originally planned as a collaboration between The Killers and Elton John. Neil gets involved after Brandon Flowers asks for help with the lyric; in the end Neil’s short section of guide vocal for the lyric he contributes will remain in the final song when it is made available for download.

On This Day

1991

The Pet Shop Boys perform the second of two consecutive nights' shows at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco.

1997

They perform 'A Red Letter Day' on Top of the Pops.

2007

The jet carrying the Pet Shop Boys to Auckland, New Zealand, early this morning comes within about 40 seconds of being struck by fiery debris—initially reported as a disintegrating Russian satellite, but more likely a meteor—plunging through the atmosphere. Neil, Chris, and their entourage sleep through the near-catastrophe.

2016

The Boys are interviewed this evening on John Wilson's Front Row program on BBC Radio 4 about their upcoming shows at London's Royal Opera House.

2019

They perform this evening at the AsiaWorld Expo Convention Centre in Hong Kong.

Next (2009)