About Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. Before becoming a professional musician, Tennant had a career in publishing, including a stint as an editor at Marvel UK in the mid-1970s. He was a music journalist for Smash Hits and became assistant editor in the early 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. Tennant wrote several of their songs including "Can You Hear the Dawn Break?", which he regards as his first "proper" song. In 1965, Tennant joined the Young People's Theatre in Newcastle, where he learned about stage performance and became interested in writing music for theatre. Tennant became acquainted with the staff of Smash Hits when he commissioned the magazine's designer, Steve Bush, to design a book about the 1981 Madness film Take It or Leave It. Tennant became assistant editor of Smash Hits, and was offered the position of editor before his departure in 1985.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.