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115-536: " Reason Why " is a song by English producer Sophie featuring German singer Kim Petras and American duo BC Kingdom. The track was released on 24 June 2024 as the lead single of Sophie's posthumous self-titled album , released on 27 September. Sophie's first studio album, Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Later on, Sophie was nearing completion of her second studio project before her sudden death in 2021. After her death, Sophie's brother Ben Long announced his intention to release
230-461: A Grammy . During a red carpet interview at the ceremony, she confirmed work on a remix album of Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides . In July 2019, Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides Non-Stop Remix Album was announced as part of an exclusive 3-CD set that included the original Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides album as well as a clutch bag featuring its artwork. The remix album was later released as two videos on YouTube on 29 July. Sophie featured on
345-566: A Korg MS-10 synthesizer he had purchased, which sparked a conversation with Lowe. Discovering that they had a mutual interest in disco and electronic music, they became friends. In particular, the pair drew inspiration from two synth-pop records: " Souvenir " by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD); and " Bedsitter " by Soft Cell , which reflected their lifestyles at the time. According to Tennant, he and Lowe would listen to "pioneers of electronic music", including OMD, Soft Cell, Kraftwerk ,
460-408: A charity single . It was released under the artist name 'Absolutely Fabulous'; Tennant and Lowe do not consider it as a Pet Shop Boys single release and it was not included on their next best-of album. The video featured clips from the sitcom, along with newly recorded footage of Tennant and Lowe with the characters of Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Lumley). On 12 September 1994, Pet Shop Boys released
575-520: A " surrealist , blatantly artificial quality", typically making use of "sugary synthesizer textures, and beats drawing from underground dance music styles" as well as " experimental sound design " and feminine vocals. The Guardian likened her style to if " Aphex Twin had swallowed a 12-year-old girl’s Spotify account. Playful, synthetic pop music – songs about love, or just as often, fizzy drinks – pared back to an austere digital minimalism; sounds so crisp and trickly, they sounded like CGI for
690-416: A "fearless trailblazer in electronic music " who "bridged the mainstream and the avant-garde like few other artists", while Rolling Stone credited her work with "revolutioniz[ing] the sound of underground dance and pop music". A self-titled second studio album , reportedly "nearly finished" at the time of her death and completed by her brother Benny Long, was released posthumously in 2024. Sophie
805-489: A Sin " and " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ". From 1983 to 1984, Orlando recorded 11 tracks with Tennant and Lowe, including " West End Girls ", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", "It's a Sin", "I Want a Lover", "I Get Excited", "Two Divided by Zero", "Rent", "Later Tonight", "Pet Shop Boys", "A Man Could Get Arrested" and "One More Chance". In April 1984, the Orlando-produced "West End Girls"
920-565: A Sin ". The single caused some controversy: Tennant's school, St. Cuthbert's Grammar School , in Newcastle upon Tyne , chastised him in the press , while pop impresario Jonathan King accused them of plagiarising the Cat Stevens song " Wild World ". King recorded a version of "Wild World" in the style of Pet Shop Boys to prove his point. The group later sued King and won damages, which were donated to Jefferiss Research Trust, supporting
1035-578: A condition, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe were given one disc each, whereas all previous releases in the series consisted of only a single disc per group (see Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys ). In July 2017, Pet Shop Boys reissued Release as part of their Catalogue: 1985–2012 series. It features the remastered album, plus bonus tracks, demos and Pet Shop Boys' remixes of their tracks. Pet Shop Boys began 2006 remixing Madonna 's single " Sorry ", for release in February. The single reached number one in
1150-684: A cover of U2 's " Where the Streets Have No Name " as a medley with " Can't Take My Eyes Off You ", the 1960s pop song by Frankie Valli / the Four Seasons , was released as a double- A-sided single with a remix of the album track " How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously? " by Brothers in Rhythm . This was followed by the duo's first world tour. Named Performance , the tour kicked off in Tokyo, on 11 March 1991. The tour also visited
1265-554: A cover of " Go West ", and their own " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ", and " What Have I Done to Deserve This? " in a duet with Dusty Springfield . With five US top ten singles in the 1980s, they are associated with the Second British Invasion . At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music . In 2016, Billboard newspaper named Pet Shop Boys
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#17327759859721380-593: A cover version of the Sterling Void single " It's Alright ", in 1989. 1989 also saw the start of Pet Shop Boys' first tour , which they performed in Hong Kong, Japan, and Britain. The tour followed the ideas of the extravaganza that could not have been afforded earlier in their careers. Derek Jarman returned to direct the performance and he provided several films that were projected during the shows. The September 1990 single, " So Hard " reached number four in
1495-666: A duet with Tennant. On 10 October 2006, Pet Shop Boys embarked on the North and Central American leg of their world tour, which took them through Canada, the United States and Mexico, concluding on 16 November. A DVD of the show in Mexico City was released on 21 May 2007, titled Cubism . It was recorded on 14 November 2006, in the Auditorio Nacional , and was directed by David Barnard. On 16 October, Catalogue
1610-415: A fellow electronic musician. Sophie was described as a reclusive figure. Early in her career and prior to coming out as transgender, Sophie's real-life identity was the subject of press speculation. Her identity was concealed in interviews through voice masking , and by obscuring herself in press photos. At one Boiler Room show, drag performer Ben Woozy was recruited to mime a DJ set as Sophie while
1725-501: A girl when you're a male producer [and] there are so few female producers...I think it's really good music. I probably shouldn't have said that." The music video for " It's Okay to Cry ", released in October 2017, was the first time Sophie's voice and image were used in a solo release, with Sophie appearing nude from the bust up against a backdrop of clouds. This was widely interpreted as her coming out as transgender. Sophie confirmed
1840-650: A new version of "Paninaro", the 1986 B-side to " Suburbia ", was released to promote the B-sides collection Alternative . The single, called " Paninaro '95 ", is based on the live version from the Discovery tour. The Pet Shop Boys remix of the David Bowie song " Hallo Spaceboy " featured Tennant on backing vocals and was released in the UK on 19 February 1996. Pet Shop Boys then joined Bowie during his performance of
1955-435: A number of other productions after the 11 September 2001 attacks . After the mixed fortunes of Closer to Heaven , Pet Shop Boys returned to the studio to start work on their eighth album. After toying with genres including hip hop , they went for a stripped back acoustic sound as a complete change from the over-the-top dance music of the musical. In 2002, they released the modestly successful album Release . Most of
2070-632: A promotional video was shot by the distinguished photographer Martin Parr and it was serviced to some UK radio stations. Following a live stint on the John Peel show on Radio 1 , Pet Shop Boys released Disco 3 , in February 2003. The album followed their previous Disco albums, but this one also included new songs as well as remixes. In 2003, Pet Shop Boys launched two new labels, Olde English Vinyl and Lucky Kunst, their Spaghetti Records label becoming defunct. The first release on Olde English Vinyl
2185-511: A second greatest hits album , PopArt: The Hits , a double compilation with two new singles: " Miracles " and " Flamboyant ". Not chronologically arranged, the tracks were divided into two discs: Pop including the more traditional pop songs and Art containing those works which were considered more experimental. In September 2004, Pet Shop Boys appeared at a free concert in Trafalgar Square in London, where they performed, with
2300-584: A series of concert dates across Europe, mainly at assorted festivals and outdoor venues. These included two dates at the Tower of London on 28 and 29 June and a single show at Thetford Forest , as well as performances of Battleship Potemkin in Germany and Spain. On 1 May 2006, Battleship Potemkin was also performed at the Swan Hunter shipyard, in Newcastle upon Tyne , with Pet Shop Boys accompanied by
2415-540: A settlement giving Bobby O significant royalties for future sales. Hiring manager Tom Watkins , they signed with the London-based Parlophone label . In April, Tennant left Smash Hits magazine—where he had progressed to the position of deputy editor—and in July, a new single, " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ", was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, "In
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#17327759859722530-462: A song for inclusion on her eponymous Kylie Minogue album, called " Falling ", which was based on an unreleased remix of " Go West " with new lyrics by Tennant; however, Minogue and her record company did not like the production sound of Pet Shop Boys' demo and asked Farley & Heller to finally produce the track. In 2000 the duo made their debut performance at the Glastonbury festival on
2645-658: A strong return to the UK Singles Chart with " Can You Forgive Her? ". Taking its title from the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name , the single reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart, while its iconic music video featured the duo in orange body suits and tall dunce caps , in a world of computer-generated imagery . The theme was continued with the follow-up single, a cover of the Village People song " Go West ", which reached number two in
2760-540: A third track "OOH"—was released on another Glasgow based label Numbers later that year. "Bipp" in particular, featuring vocals from Sophie's former Motherland bandmate Marcella Dvsi, received considerable attention from music critics, topping XLR8R ' s year-end list and placing 17 on Pitchfork ' s. Pitchfork later ranked "Bipp" 56 on its list of the best tracks from 2010 to 2014. In mid-2014, Sophie collaborated with Japanese pop singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu . Also in 2014, she collaborated with A. G. Cook and
2875-482: A trans identity in subsequent interviews, also speaking of feeling boxed-in by labels and describing music as "my chosen method of communication" and self-expression. On 30 January 2021, at the age of 34, Sophie accidentally fell three floors from the rooftop of a building in Athens, Greece while attempting to take a picture of the full moon. She died at around 4:00 AM. Sophie's partner, Evita Manji, said that "it took
2990-706: A vida é (That's the Way Life Is) ", a Latin American music -inspired track, featuring a drum sample from a track called "Estrada da paixão" by Brazilian act Olodum . This preceded the sixth Pet Shop Boys album Bilingual , which was released in September. Pet Shop Boys were the first band to have a residency at a West End theatre , playing for two weeks at the Savoy Theatre in June 1997. Lowe selected
3105-420: Is "a knotty exploration of her grief about SOPHIE". A.G. Cook's song " Without " expresses dealing with the loss of someone you love and interpolates Sophie's "Bipp" within the outro. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards , Sophie's former collaborator Kim Petras became the first transgender artist to win the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance ; during her acceptance speech, she credited Sophie for paving
3220-478: Is distinguished by experimental sound design , "sugary" synthesized textures, and incorporation of underground dance styles. It would help pioneer the 2010s hyperpop microgenre. Sophie rose to prominence with a string of breakthrough singles led by " Bipp " (2013); these were compiled on the singles collection Product (2015). She concealed her identity early in her solo career, but came out publicly as transgender in 2017. The following year, Sophie released
3335-703: The 2010s style known as " hyperpop ". Sophie primarily used the Elektron Monomachine synth-sequencer and Ableton Live workstation to create music. Apart from vocals, Sophie created original synthesized sounds from the elementary waveforms by using the Monomachine, eschewing the use of samples . Likening the construction of a track to building a sculpture out of different materials, she synthesized sounds resembling "latex, balloons, bubbles, metal, plastic, [and] elastic". Tiny Mix Tapes described her production as " liquid metal or maybe
3450-526: The London Underground section of the station in November of that year (part of the lyrics read: "Dead and wounded on either side/You know it's only a matter of time"). The Sun newspaper in the UK subsequently tried to get the track released as a charity single , but Pet Shop Boys did not agree. Towards the end of 1987, Pet Shop Boys started work on an hour-long film that would incorporate
3565-584: The Northern Sinfonia orchestra. On 3 October 2006, the long-delayed U.S. release of their PopArt hits package was issued by Capitol Records . During 2006, Pet Shop Boys worked with Robbie Williams on his album Rudebox , producing two tracks: a cover version of "We're the Pet Shop Boys", written by My Robot Friend (which Pet Shop Boys had also recorded themselves and released as a B-side to " Miracles " in 2003), and " She's Madonna ",
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3680-465: The UK Albums Chart . It was produced by Pet Shop Boys and mixed with additional production by Stephen Hague , who had produced their first album and had subsequently produced records by OMD , New Order and Erasure . The other singles from Very , " I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing ", " Liberation " and " Yesterday, When I Was Mad ", continued the theme of CGI videos, peaking with
3795-467: The V Festival 2007), Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Singapore. Pet Shop Boys "played" at the free festival Secondfest , in the online virtual world Second Life , on 30 June. On 8 October 2007, Pet Shop Boys released Disco 4 , the latest in their series of remix albums ;
3910-407: The noise equivalent of non-Euclidean geometry ". Sophie told Billboard that the genre of music she produced was "advertising". Sophie's early visuals came from a series of colourful images described as "Homemade Molecular Cooking", with the singles' cover art often depicting objects made from plastic or other industrial materials, an idea that originated from discussions with John Roberts ,
4025-465: The "Liberation" video, which contained almost no real-life elements at all. All these videos were directed by Howard Greenhalgh , who continued to work with Pet Shop Boys well into the next decade. Very was also released in a limited edition including an entirely new album, Relentless , which was composed of six all-new progressive house tracks. In 1994, Pet Shop Boys offered to remix fellow Parlophone act Blur 's single " Girls & Boys ". It
4140-460: The 1971 Broadway musical " Follies ". The duo's own demo of this appeared on their " Jealousy " single as a B-side. Tennant worked with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on their first album as Electronic , whose first single, " Getting Away with It ", co-written and co-produced by Tennant, was released on 4 December 1989. In 1991, Lowe also contributed to the Electronic project, contributing
4255-625: The Afterparty " and cameoed in the single's official music video. Sophie also received production credits for two songs on XCX's 2017 mixtape Number 1 Angel , and another for one song on XCX's second mixtape of 2017, Pop 2 , released later that year. Sophie collaborated with producer Cashmere Cat on several tracks from his album 9 , including " Love Incredible " alongside Camila Cabello and "9 (After Coachella)" with MØ . In October 2017, Sophie released " It's Okay to Cry ", her first new material in almost two years. The music video for
4370-744: The British producer Trevor Horn , including Grace Jones , ABC , Seal and Frankie Goes to Hollywood . In 2005, Pet Shop Boys were selected as the headline act for the Moscow Live 8 concert , in Red Square , where a crowd of between 60,000 and 80,000 gathered to watch them perform. Also in 2005, Pet Shop Boys were asked to put together the twentieth release in the Back to Mine series, an ongoing anthology showcasing artists' favourite music selections, with an emphasis on afterhours chill-out music . As
4485-585: The Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra, a whole new soundtrack to accompany the seminal 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin . There were four further live performances of the work with the Dresdner Sinfoniker in Germany in September 2005. The Battleship Potemkin soundtrack was then released on 5 September 2005. In November 2004, Pet Shop Boys played at the Prince's Trust concert titled "Produced by Trevor Horn" with other artists who had worked with
4600-640: The Human League , and Depeche Mode . The duo began to work together on material, first in Tennant's flat in Chelsea , then, from 1982, in a small studio in Camden Town owned by Ray Roberts. " Jealousy ", written in 1982, was among the first songs they recorded there. They briefly labelled their demo tapes under the band name West End before settling on Pet Shop Boys. They say that their band name
4715-544: The London-based Glaswegian label Huntleys + Palmers. The single, featuring vocals from UK singer Jaide Green, consisted of two mixes of the titular track (titled the "Dub" and "Vox"), as well as the B-side , "Eeehhh", which was initially posted on (and later deleted from) her SoundCloud in 2011. Its follow-up, " Bipp "/"Elle"—which had been released on SoundCloud as previews in the previous year along with
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4830-666: The Motherland Radio version, uploaded to Light Asylum's SoundCloud page the following month. In 2011, this remix was included on Light Asylum's In Tension EP as a bonus track for the CD release. In 2012, this track was given a 300-copy release for club deejays on 12-inch , 45 rpm clear vinyl by independent label Mexican Summer . In 2011, Sophie scored the short film Dear Mr/Mrs by Dutch team Freudenthal/Verhagen. Detroit deejay Jeffrey Sfire met Sophie in Berlin in 2013;
4945-631: The Night", later resurfaced, in a longer remixed version, as the opening track to the duo's first remix album , Disco , in 1986. This version was also used as the theme for the UK television series The Clothes Show . They returned to the studio in August to re-record "West End Girls" with producer Stephen Hague . Released in October 1985 it rose slowly in the British charts to become number one in January 1986. It subsequently replicated this success in
5060-511: The September 2020 single "Metal" by Jimmy Edgar . In January 2021, Numbers announced a new single release pairing a remix of "Bipp" by Autechre with the Product -era track "Unisil"; Sophie had previously stated that she wanted "NO remixes" of her music "unless it’s Autechre" and called them "my heroes." The single was released two days before Sophie's death. AllMusic wrote that Sophie's "sophisticated, hyperkinetic productions" feature
5175-501: The Top 10 hit " You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk ", "Closer to Heaven"—which would later become the title of Pet Shop Boys' musical—as well as a duet with Kylie Minogue , " In Denial ", about a father coming out to his daughter. Minogue later performed the track live, during her 2005 Showgirl tour, singing to a pre-recorded Neil Tennant. This is not the first time that Pet Shop Boys have worked with Minogue: in 1994, they wrote
5290-471: The U.S., Canada, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, then another series of dates in the UK again, Switzerland and onto Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and then a first-ever date in Thailand as the final show, at the large Bangkok Impact Arena . A third single, "London", was released in Germany at the request of EMI Germany . It was never planned for release in the UK, although
5405-606: The UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, beating " Fairytale of New York " by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl . In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph newspaper placed Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind" at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time. 1988 started with another collaboration. Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced the song " I'm Not Scared " for Patsy Kensit 's band, Eighth Wonder . The song became her biggest hit single and Pet Shop Boys included their own extended version of
5520-457: The UK and the Pet Shop Boys remix included new backing vocals performed by Tennant. Madonna subsequently used the Pet Shop Boys remix, including Tennant's vocals, on her 2006 Confessions Tour . In April, Pet Shop Boys released a new single that reached number eight in the UK, " I'm with Stupid ", a commentary on the relationship between George W. Bush and Tony Blair . The promo video featured Matt Lucas and David Walliams , better known as
5635-481: The UK and was followed by their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), which was recorded in Munich with producer Harold Faltermeyer . The album was not intended to reflect a dramatic change in mood from their earlier albums; however, it is noticeably subdued. It included the fan favourite " Being Boring ", the second single from the album, which only reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart, their lowest placing at
5750-529: The UK, with another computer-generated music video, this time inspired by the Soviet Union , with shots of the duo filmed in Moscow . The tune was adopted as a football chant at Arsenal Football Club , which Chris Lowe supports, and it became a widespread and iconic stadium anthem . The duo's fifth studio album, Very , followed on 27 September and is the only Pet Shop Boys album to reach number one on
5865-584: The US-based artist Hayden Dunham for the project QT , co-producing the single " Hey QT " with Cook. The project included a fictional energy drink called the QT Energy Elixir. At Sophie's request, "Hey QT" repeats the drink's name for product placement . Sophie's next single, " Lemonade "/" Hard ", was released in August 2014, with vocal contributions on the former from fellow musician Nabihah Iqbal and model Tess Yopp and vocal contributions on
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#17327759859725980-472: The United States, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Norway and sold an estimated 1.5 million copies worldwide. After the success of "West End Girls", Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, " Love Comes Quickly ", on 24 February 1986. The single reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and was followed by their debut album, Please , on 24 March. In June 1986,
6095-768: The United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The shows were designed by David Alden and David Fielding, who had designed several sets for the Royal Opera House . Before taking a break in 1992, in 1991 Pet Shop Boys released an 18-track compilation called Discography , which included all of their single releases up until then and two new singles—" DJ Culture " and " Was It Worth It? "—omitting only "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" (although it did appear on
6210-471: The album track " Suburbia " were also released in 1986, followed by Disco . In September 1986, Pet Shop Boys performed "Love Comes Quickly" and "West End Girls" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. 1987 started with Pet Shop Boys receiving both a BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award for "West End Girls". Later, on 15 June, they released what became their second number one single, " It's
6325-516: The album, " Faceshopping ", was released on 16 February 2018 with a music video on 4 April 2018. On 3 April 2018, Sophie announced via Instagram that the album was complete and that it would not be titled Whole New World as previously thought. On 1 May 2018, an interview with Crack Magazine revealed that the official album title is Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides . It was released on 15 June 2018 by Sophie's own label, MSMSMSM, along with Future Classic and Transgressive . In early 2018, it
6440-578: The artist posed as a bodyguard. Asked about the choice of Sophie as a stage name in a 2013 interview, she responded: "It tastes good and it's like moisturizer." Before coming out, some publications assumed Sophie to be a cisgender man and accused her of "feminine appropriation" for what they saw as a parodic adoption of hyperfeminine aesthetics and a female name. Scottish journalist Lauren Martin described Sophie's feminine identity as "weird...[and] unnecessary". Canadian musician Grimes said "It's really fucked up to call yourself SOPHIE and pretend you're
6555-471: The band announced a tour of Europe and America; however, their plans for a theatrical extravaganza proved to be too expensive and the tour was cancelled. Please started Pet Shop Boys' penchant for choosing one-word album titles, which Neil Tennant has since stated is now a Pet Shop Boys "signature thing", akin to e. e. cummings ' use of exclusively lower case letters. New versions of their second single, " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ", and
6670-489: The band switched managers again as Carrington resigned and was succeeded by Mitch Clark, who had previously worked for EMI International as Head of Promotion. During this time, Pet Shop Boys began to work with playwright Jonathan Harvey on a stage musical project. In 1999, many of the tracks recorded ended up on the duo's seventh studio album, Nightlife , which included the Top 20 singles " I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More " and " New York City Boy ",
6785-467: The chord sequence to "The Patience of a Saint" on their 1991 album. In 1992, Tennant sang lead vocals on the non-album single " Disappointed ", which was featured on the soundtrack to the film Cool World . Pet Shop Boys set up the Spaghetti Records label in 1991. Their most successful release was the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Crying Game , which featured Boy George performing
6900-534: The complete Mermaid Theatre concert, with the BBC Concert Orchestra , featuring guests Rufus Wainwright , Frances Barber , and Robbie Williams , and Trevor Horn as the musical director. A 90-minute "director's cut" of the concert aired on BBC 6 Music , on 28 August 2006. On 7 December 2006, Pet Shop Boys were nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards : Best Dance Recording for "I'm with Stupid", and Best Electronic/Dance Album for Fundamental . During
7015-442: The date, the song was released, accompanied by an announcement that her posthumous album, Sophie , would be released in September of the year. Sophie (musician) Sophie Xeon ( / ˈ z iː ɒ n / ; 17 September 1986 – 30 January 2021), known mononymously as Sophie (stylized in all caps ), was an English music producer, songwriter, and DJ. Her work is known for its brash take on pop music and
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#17327759859727130-400: The desire to drop out of school to become an electronic music producer, but was not allowed to. She continued to create music throughout adolescence, regularly announcing "I'm just going to lock myself in my room until I've made an album." A half-sister asked Sophie to DJ her wedding; later she admitted that the half-sister "didn't know what I was doing in my room on my own" and had assumed she
7245-426: The double PopArt: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits . The video to the single, directed by Jack Bond, starred Ian McKellen as a vampire who steals Neil Tennant's wife. Neil Tennant has said that the Pet Shop Boys' " Imperial Phase " ended in September 1988, when their new single, " Domino Dancing ", entered the UK Singles Chart at number nine and only reached number seven. Tennant recalls being disappointed upon hearing
7360-412: The duo had wanted to release this track on their debut album, Springfield had not agreed, and they were reluctant to record it with any other female singer, despite their record company's suggestions. Springfield's manager finally contacted them in 1986, following the release of Please , and towards the end of that year, she travelled to London to record "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" with them. It
7475-539: The ears. And yet for all its foregrounded artifice, Sophie’s work spoke of heartache and yearning; of human connection." The New York Times described Sophie's work as "giddy fun, but [...] also an invitation to consider pop's pleasures, structures and gender expectations, and pop's commercial status as both a consumer item and an emotional catalyst." Pitchfork credited her work with "mold[ing] electronic music into bracingly original avant-garde pop ". Variety and The New York Times described her work as pioneering
7590-501: The events and would play them in the car and be like, 'This is going to be important for you.' [...] As soon as I’d heard electronic music , I spent all my time listening to those cassette tapes. I’d steal them from the car." Pet Shop Boys and the Prodigy were among her favourite acts. After receiving a keyboard as a birthday gift, she became interested in creating new music. At the age of approximately nine or ten, Sophie expressed
7705-455: The extended play's release, Sophie embarked on tour with Charli XCX in promotion of new music. Sophie, along with A. G. Cook and Hannah Diamond also involved with the EP, received cameos in the official video for the lead single, " Vroom Vroom ". The video was premiered on Apple Music and other platforms soon after. In late 2016, Sophie acted as an additional producer on Charli XCX's song " After
7820-587: The film Scandal about the Profumo political scandal in Britain) and " In Private ". The duo later went on to produce half of the tracks on her 1990 solo Reputation album. Pet Shop Boys were also asked to write and produce an album for Liza Minnelli , in 1989. The album, Results , generated four singles, including the hit " Losing My Mind ", a cover version of the Stephen Sondheim song from
7935-451: The follow-up to their 1986 remix album Disco , in the form of Disco 2 . The album featured club remixes of the singles released from Very and Behaviour , in a continuous megamix by Danny Rampling . Then, in October, Pet Shop Boys began their Discovery tour, which would see them visit areas that they had never performed in before: Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The following year,
8050-460: The four Numbers singles from 2013 and 2014, as well as four new tracks: "MSMSMSM", "Vyzee", "L.O.V.E.", and " Just Like We Never Said Goodbye ". "MSMSMSM" was released on 29 September, and "Just Like We Never Said Goodbye" followed on 15 October. In February 2016, Charli XCX released her Vroom Vroom EP , produced primarily by Sophie. It was later revealed that the EP would act as a teaser for XCX's upcoming album, which Sophie would produce. After
8165-500: The latter from PC Music artist GFOTY . Numbers released "Lemonade"/"Hard" as a 12" single. Both tracks appeared on the Billboard Twitter Real-Time charts. "Lemonade" and "Hard" placed 68th and 91st respectively on the 2014 Pazz & Jop critics poll, and the single was included in the top ten of year-end singles lists by The Washington Post , Resident Advisor , Complex , and Pitchfork ; "Hard"
8280-645: The latter part of 2006 and early 2007, Neil Tennant served as executive producer on Rufus Wainwright's album, Release the Stars , recorded in Berlin. He sang backing vocals on a number of tracks, including "Do I Disappoint You", and "Tiergarten". Pet Shop Boys continued their world tour, albeit with a slightly different production and set list, on 14 March 2007, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, then played concerts in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and Australia (as co-headliners of
8395-475: The latter. Their Presley cover would later be re-released in a 12" version, consisting of a medley , along with an acid house track by the duo, titled "In My House". September 1987 saw the release of the duo's second studio album, Actually , followed by the single " Rent " in October, which reached number 8 in the UK. The final song on the album, " King's Cross " accidentally anticipated the King's Cross fire at
8510-435: The minor planet 1980 RE1 was given the permanent name Sophiexeon. In March 2022, Charli XCX dedicated her album Crash to Sophie. Caroline Polachek 's song " I Believe ", which deals with ideas around immortality and legacy, is inspired by and dedicated to Sophie. "Sweetest Fruit", from St. Vincent 's 2024 album All Born Screaming , opens with an ode to Sophie. Charli XCX's Brat (2024) also includes "So I" that
8625-544: The most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records . Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1984 they have achieved 42 top 30 singles, 22 of these being top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart , including four UK number ones: " West End Girls " (also number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 ), " It's a Sin ", a synth-pop version of " Always on My Mind ", and " Heart ". Other hit songs include
8740-472: The news, and he felt that their peak period was over and that it was going to be a challenge to maintain their level of success in the future. Their third album, Introspective , was released on 10 October 1988. Unusually, this was a six-track album of previously unheard remixes and new tracks in extended form. It was followed by the Trevor Horn –produced top-five single " Left to My Own Devices ", and
8855-454: The next one finished... I'm going to release four albums this year". In an interview with Lenny Letter , Sophie said that she had done so much collaborating with other people that, "Basically, I've done a whole new album in the last two weeks." When asked to clarify whether this was a comment on EPs or albums, she stated that it would be "a mix". She had also been working with Kim Petras , Charli XCX, and Bibi Bourelly on new material within
8970-549: The number one dance duo/group over the 40 years since the chart's inception in 1976. In 2017, the duo received NME 's Godlike Genius Award , and in 2024, they were awarded the Pop Pioneers award at the MTV Europe Music Awards . Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a hi-fi shop, Chelsea Record Centre, on 203 King's Road, in Chelsea, London on 19 August 1981. Tennant needed a connector for
9085-505: The police and fire brigade around 90 minutes to get her out" before their arrival at the hospital. Artists including Rihanna , Sam Smith , Vince Staples , Charli XCX , A. G. Cook , and Rahim Redcar expressed their condolences. On 4 June 2021, Sophie's brother Benny Long announced plans to release some of her unreleased work. On 16 June 2021, the International Astronomical Union announced that
9200-423: The project that she would "be happy with". Up until 2024, posthumous projects by Sophie were sparse, including a collaboration with Jlin titled "Jsloipnhie". Sophie played "Reason Why" in her live performances before it was leaked in 2019. On 21 June 2024, an hour-long video, which listed a date for 24 June 2024 at 6:30 PM London Time along with different time zones, was posted to Sophie's YouTube channel. On
9315-513: The pyramid stage on Saturday 24 June as the sun was setting, before Travis headlined. Cerys Matthews (of band Catatonia ) took the part of Dusty Springfield for the duet on " What Have I Done to Deserve This? ". The performance was heralded as one of the weekend's most triumphant. The musical Closer to Heaven premiered in London in May 2001 to mixed reviews. The run was originally extended to February 2002, but it closed in October 2001 along with
9430-512: The song " Somewhere " from West Side Story to be the centrepiece of the performance and a new single. The production featured an interactive film by Sam Taylor-Wood showing a party scene, which Tennant and Lowe appeared to leave and enter from the stage. The show lost money, and the duo offset their losses in part by playing music festivals including the Roskilde Festival in 1997 and Creamfields in 1999. The majority of 1998
9545-592: The song at the 1996 Brit Awards ceremony, as well as an appearance on the Top of the Pops television program. In April, Pet Shop Boys released the single " Before " which reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart . That month, Tina Turner also released her Wildest Dreams album, which featured the Pet Shop Boys-produced track "Confidential". In August, Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, " Se
9660-420: The song was the first time Sophie's voice and image were used in a release. She subsequently opened up to the press about being transgender . Later in the month, Sophie also debuted in live performance, premiering newly recorded songs from Sophie's second album with vocal performances by Cecile Believe . The single " Ponyboy " was released with a self-directed music video on 7 December 2017. The third single from
9775-428: The songs from Please and Actually . Working with director Jack Bond , the short film grew into a full-scale movie, It Couldn't Happen Here , starring Barbara Windsor , Joss Ackland and Gareth Hunt . The film was released in 1988 to mixed reviews. Footage from the film was also used for the music video to "Always on My Mind", released as a single on 30 November; it became both the duo's third number one single in
9890-563: The songs mattered hugely, but the way they were presented was going to matter hugely as well; and that we were never going to give up on that." Pet Shop Boys supported the publication of the book with signings in London, New York City, Los Angeles and Berlin. To coincide with the publication of Catalogue , a small exhibition of portraits of Pet Shop Boys opened in the Bookshop Gallery of London's National Portrait Gallery on 30 October 2006 and ran to 4 March 2007. Also on 16 October,
10005-573: The studio album Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides , earning a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album . She worked closely with artists from the PC Music label, including A. G. Cook and GFOTY , and also produced for acts such as Charli XCX , Vince Staples , Kim Petras , Madonna , Hyd , Gaika , and Namie Amuro . Sophie died in January 2021 after an accidental fall in Athens , Greece. AllMusic eulogized her as
10120-445: The study of sexually transmitted diseases. The video for "It's a Sin" also saw their first collaboration with director Derek Jarman . The success of "It's a Sin" was followed up with the release of " What Have I Done to Deserve This? " on 10 August. Co-written with Allee Willis and also featuring Dusty Springfield on vocals, the single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although
10235-408: The team behind Little Britain . Lucas and Walliams portray Lowe and Tennant, parodying two of the duo's previous videos, " Go West ", and " Can You Forgive Her? ". The ninth Pet Shop Boys studio album, Fundamental , followed in May, reaching number five in the UK. The album was produced by Trevor Horn , who Pet Shop Boys had previously worked with on " Left to My Own Devices ", in 1988. The album
10350-513: The third single from Fundamental , " Numb ", was released, following its appearance at the end of the BBC's coverage of England at the World Cup . It was written by Diane Warren and is the only song on the album not written by Tennant and Lowe. "Numb" became only the second Pet Shop Boys single to that point to miss the Top 20. On 23 October 2006, Concrete was released. It is a double CD of
10465-479: The time. Tennant was inspired by a quote by Zelda Fitzgerald : "...she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring", and the song was a personal commentary on the AIDS epidemic. The music video was directed by filmmaker Bruce Weber . By this time, the duo had also parted ways with manager Tom Watkins, replacing him with Jill Carrington, who had previously been marketing director at Polydor . In March 1991,
10580-539: The title song . The song was produced by Pet Shop Boys and featured Tennant on backing vocals. Other artists on the label included Scottish singer Cicero , the Ignorants, and Masterboy . In 1992, they were the subjects of a South Bank Show documentary on ITV with contributions from Liza Minnelli, Eric Watson (photographer and video director), Simon Frith (music critic), David Alden and David Fielding. In June 1993, Pet Shop Boys re-invented their image and made
10695-428: The track on their Introspective album. March 1988 saw the duo achieve their fourth UK number one single (and their last to date), with a remixed edit of " Heart ", different from the album version. This single version would be included on their first and third greatest hits albums , Discography: The Complete Singles Collection and Ultimate , whereas the album version would be used for their second retrospective ,
10810-428: The tracks were produced by the duo themselves and many featured Johnny Marr on guitar. The first single, " Home and Dry ", featured a very peculiar music video, directed by Wolfgang Tillmans , mostly consisting of raw camcorder footage of mice filmed in the London Underground . The follow-up single " I Get Along " had a video filmed by Bruce Weber . Pet Shop Boys embarked on another world tour, although this time it
10925-485: The two formed the duo Sfire, releasing a 12-inch vinyl disc Sfire on the CockTail D'Amore label. She vocalized on one song "Sfire 3", which was later remixed by John Talabot in 2016. Sophie became involved with artists affiliated with the PC Music label after encountering Dux Kidz, a project between A. G. Cook and Danny L Harle . Sophie's debut single " Nothing More to Say " was released in February 2013 via
11040-416: The video companion Videography ). While "DJ Culture" had some success, "Was It Worth It?" became the duo's first single to miss the UK top 20 since their two Bobby O debut singles. During this period, Pet Shop Boys continued to collaborate with many high-profile musicians. They worked again with Dusty Springfield , on the singles " Nothing Has Been Proved " (which was a song written for their soundtrack for
11155-542: The video to the single in Paris with Don Cameron. The single was the first of theirs to be playlisted by London's biggest radio station, Capital Radio , in a decade. Pet Shop Boys began a worldwide tour in support of Fundamental in June 2006 in Norway. The show was designed and directed by Es Devlin , a British theatre designer, and choreographed by Hakeem Onibudo. Between 15 June and 10 September 2006, Pet Shop Boys played
11270-480: The way for her. On 21 June 2024, a video was uploaded to Sophie's YouTube channel titled "@MSMSMSM_FOREVER", containing an hour and three seconds of silence and listing dates and times around 24 and 25 June in five different time zones. Three days later, it was announced that a posthumous self-titled album , produced by Sophie and Sophie's brother, would be released on 27 September via Transgressive and Future Classic. " Reason Why " featuring BC Kingdom and Kim Petras
11385-407: The year, as well as some rap collaborations in addition to the confirmed Lady Gaga collaboration. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards , Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album , and Sophie made history as both one of the first openly transgender artists to be nominated in this category and one of the three first openly transgender women to be nominated for
11500-579: Was Atomizer 's "Hooked on Radiation", followed by Pete Burns ' "Jack and Jill Party" in 2004. The only Lucky Kunst release to date is the Kiki Kokova 's version of " Love to Love You Baby ". They also remixed Yoko Ono 's " Walking on Thin Ice " in 2003 and Rammstein 's " Mein Teil " in 2004. Another new manager, David Dorrell, was brought on board to replace Clark. In November 2003, Pet Shop Boys released
11615-609: Was a DJ. Around this time, Sophie learned to DJ in addition to producing music. Sophie's music career began in a band named Motherland, alongside bandmates Sabine Gottfried, Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, and Marcella Dvsi. She played live shows in Berlin and the UK during 2008–2009. She later collaborated with Lutz-Kinoy on a series of performance works. In October 2010, Sophie remixed the Light Asylum single, "A Certain Person", creating
11730-479: Was a club hit throughout Europe and started a sporadic trend for Pet Shop Boys to remix other artists' music. Also in 1994, Pet Shop Boys released the Comic Relief single, "Absolutely Fabulous". The idea started when Tennant and Lowe were playing around with samples from the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in the studio. They approached lead actors Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley and suggested it as
11845-611: Was a stripped back affair, with no dancers, backing singers, costumes or lavish sets. They used two extra guitarists, Bic Hayes and Mark Refoy , percussionist Dawne Adams, and regular programmer Pete Gleadall, alongside Lowe on keyboards and Tennant on guitar and vocals. They started with a tour of universities around the UK, performing at Bristol University , Keele University , University of East Anglia in Norwich , University of Teesside , Middlesbrough and De Montfort University , Leicester . Subsequent dates took them to Germany,
11960-474: Was also released with a limited edition remix album called Fundamentalism , which included a version of " In Private " as a duet with Elton John and " Fugitive ", a new track produced by Richard X . The week that Fundamental was released, a documentary, titled Pet Shop Boys – A Life in Pop , was broadcast on Channel 4 , directed by George Scott and produced by Nick de Grunwald. The original broadcast
12075-466: Was also the start of a series of collaborations with high-profile musicians, going on throughout the band's career. Also in August 1987, Pet Shop Boys appeared on Love Me Tender , a UK television programme, on ITV , commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley 's death. They were asked to perform one of their favourite Elvis tracks and they narrowed it down to two options, " Baby Let's Play House " and " Always on My Mind ", eventually settling on
12190-462: Was born on 17 September 1986 in Northampton , England and raised there before her family moved to London later in childhood; sources commonly report, incorrectly, that Sophie and her family were Scottish. Sophie said in an interview published by Lenny Letter , "[My dad] had brilliant instincts, taking me to raves when I was very young. He bought me the rave cassette tapes before I went to
12305-407: Was included in the top ten on lists by Dazed and Dummy . "Lemonade" appeared in a 2015 commercial for McDonald's . In March 2015, Charli XCX announced a collaboration with Sophie. It was later revealed that the pair had worked on multiple songs for XCX's upcoming studio album. In September 2015, Sophie's debut album Product was made available for preorder. The eight tracks listed were
12420-406: Was less than an hour in duration; a 140-minute version was released on DVD in October 2006. Contributors to the programme included Robbie Williams , Brandon Flowers , Tim Rice-Oxley , Jake Shears and Bruce Weber . The DVD also contained promo videos that had been made since the release of PopArt . The second single to be taken from the album was the UK top twenty " Minimal ". The duo filmed
12535-570: Was officially released as a single. On 17 September 2024, a Google Doodle commemorated what would have been Sophie's 38th birthday. An accompanying video uploaded to YouTube Shorts , titled "Celebrating Sophie Xeon", uses her track "Immaterial" from her first studio album Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides . Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe , they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and were listed as
12650-465: Was published by Thames & Hudson , a 336-page hardcover book written by Philip Hoare and Chris Heath , detailing their entire visual output, including photography as well as the design of albums, music videos, concert tours, books and fan club magazines from 1984 to 2004. Neil Tennant comments in the book: "In the beginning we made a decision – and it was in our EMI contract – that that we would have control over how everything worked; that obviously
12765-511: Was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco . On 2 November, it was voted "Screamer of the Week" by listeners of Long Island , New York, radio station WLIR . It was a minor dance hit in Belgium and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12" import. In March 1985, after long negotiations, Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O, with
12880-493: Was revealed in one of Sophie's tweets that she had contributed to and produced Lady Gaga 's latest album . In a video posted on social media, when asked, Sophie said: "Yes. I mean whatever, you know. I work on a lot of different things. If it comes out, then it's cool. You can never tell. But she's a really cool person." In July 2018, Sophie revealed work on four new projects, including a newly released debut album, which were all going to be released that year. Sophie said, "I have
12995-640: Was spent with a series of live dates and minor releases, including a charity album of Noël Coward songs, called Twentieth Century Blues . The album included Pet Shop Boys' version of "Sail Away", along with songs performed by Elton John , Texas , Marianne Faithfull , The Divine Comedy , Suede , Damon Albarn , Vic Reeves and Robbie Williams . Tennant also co-produced the Williams track and provided backing vocals for Elton John. Tennant provided backing vocals on Robbie Williams' " No Regrets " single, along with Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. Meanwhile,
13110-467: Was taken from friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing and were known as the "pet shop boys". They also noted a naming similarity with the recently formed rap rock group Beastie Boys . In August 1983, Tennant, who was an assistant editor at Smash Hits , went to New York to interview Sting . While there, he arranged to meet hi-NRG producer Bobby Orlando and gave him a demo tape containing " It's
13225-568: Was the first track to be recorded for the duo's second album. Pet Shop Boys had been told that Springfield was difficult to work with and even that she could no longer sing; however, her performance on the track put any such concerns to rest and they began a collaboration with her, which lasted until the end of the decade. Included on their second album Actually , the song became a worldwide hit and resurrected Springfield's career, leading to her 1990 album, Reputation , on which Pet Shop Boys were major contributing writers and producers . This duet
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