Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for Smash Hits, and assistant editor for the magazine in the mid-1980s.

Tennant coined the phrase imperial phase to describe the period in which a musical artist is regarded to be at their commercial and creative peak simultaneously. This observation was initially self-referential, made as the Pet Shop Boys had achieved commercial success with four British number one hits ("West End Girls", "It's a Sin", "Heart", and "Always on My Mind"), had received critical praise for their first three albums and had expanded their creative horizons through innovative collaborations in the visual and performing arts.

Neil Francis Tennant was born in the town of North Shields, approximately 8 miles east of Newcastle upon Tyne, to William W. Tennant (1923–2009), a sales representative, and Sheila M. (Watson) Tennant (1923–2008). He has an older sister, Susan, and two younger brothers, Simon and Philip. The family moved to Greenfield Road (opposite the corner of South Bend), Brunton Park, Gosforth shortly after Neil was born.

Tennant attended St Cuthbert's Grammar School, an all-boys' Catholic school in Newcastle upon Tyne. His songs "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" and "It's a Sin" refer to his early life in Catholic school and the strict upbringing there.

As a child, Tennant taught himself to play guitar and piano and started writing songs. He also played cello in school. During his teenage years, he played in a folk music group named Dust, who were heavily influenced by The Incredible String Band. Tennant wrote several of their songs including "Can You Hear the Dawn Break?", which he regards as his first 'proper' song. He was also a member of the youth theatre at the People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne.

In 1975, having completed a degree in history at North London Polytechnic (now part of London Metropolitan University), Tennant worked for two years as the production editor for Marvel UK, the UK branch of Marvel Comics. He was responsible for anglicising the dialogue of Marvel's catalogue to suit British readers and for indicating where women needed to be redrawn for the British editions. He also wrote occasional features for the comics, including interviews with pop stars Marc Bolan and Alex Harvey. In 1977, he moved to Macdonald Educational Publishing, where he edited The Dairy Book of Home Management (1980) and various illustrated books about cookery, playing the guitar and other home interests. Then he moved to ITV Books, where he edited TV tie-in books. After having commissioned Steve Bush, then the designer of Smash Hits and The Face, to design a book about the group Madness, he was offered a job at Smash Hits as news editor of the British teen pop magazine in 1982. The following year, he became assistant editor. He also edited The Smash Hits Yearbook from 1982 to 1985. ...

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