Artists with whom PSB have collaborated
I'm limiting this list to major musical artists with whom both Boys have collaborated on officially released studio recordings. I'm not including non-musical artists, such as graphic artists, dancers, choreographers, set designers, writers, and the like. Also, with one or two exceptions, I'm not including producers, remixers, arrangers, orchestrators, writers, and (with a few exceptions) assorted people with whom they've shared songwriting credits or who have served as support/backup musicians or vocalists in a non-lead role. Why? Because if I didn't impose such a limit, this list would be much longer and much more difficult to manage. So I've made it easy on myself.
Alcazar
It may be questionable to call it a "collaboration" since they merely turned over two of their own "rejected" songs, but Chris and Neil did write (though didn't produce) the Swedish group Alcazar's 2003 hit "Love Life" as well as the track "Baby" on their 2009 album Disco Defenders.
Atomizer
The Pet Shop Boys have done a 2003 production and mix of this British electroclash duo's track "Hooked on Radiation."
Frances Barber
Neil and Chris first worked with this British actress and singer on their 2001 stage musical Closer to Heaven, in which she originated the role of Billie Trix and sang a number of their songs. Nearly two decades later, they worked with her once again on the one-woman cabaret show Musik, with Ms. Barber reprising the Billie Trix character and singing several brand new Tennant-Lowe songs. Along the way she had also put in a guest appearance singing one of "Billie's" songs, "Friendly Fire," at the 2006 live London concert documented on their album Concrete, released later that same year.
Shirley Bassey
Although the Boys didn't originally write "The Performance of My Life" for the legendary U.K. songstress Shirley Bassey, they did compose it with someone rather like her in mind. When the opportunity arose in late 2008 to submit a Tennant/Lowe composition for her consideration, Neil revised the lyrics so that they would be a better fit. Bassey loved the result and settled on it as the closing (and near-title) track of her 2009 album The Performance. It was a "long-distance collaboration," so to speak, in that Chris and Neil weren't involved in her recording; in fact, they weren't even 100% sure she would actually record it until she was already in the studio at work on it. But I think it qualifies nonetheless.
Bloodhound Gang
Neil and Chris mixed the sample-laden single and extended versions of this controversial American band's notorious name-dropping song "Mope." (The artists they sampled in the process were Falco, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Metallica.)
Blur
The Boys remixed their hit song "Girls & Boys," which was later incorporated into their own "DiscoVery" tour performance setlist and was released as a b-side.
David Bowie
PSB produced the re-recorded single version of Bowie's "Hallo Spaceboy." Neil provided supporting vocals. Again, the Boys decided to include this song in subsequent performances—in this case, their "Somewhere" stage show.
Boy George
Chris and Neil produced Boy George's hit rendition of "The Crying Game" for the soundtrack of the film of the same name. Neil sang background vocals on the track.
Pete Burns
The Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced "Jack and Jill Party" for Dead or Alive frontman Pete Burns, who contributed additional lyrics to the song. The single was released on the Boys' own label, Olde English Vinyl.
Cicero
The Boys signed this young Scottish singer-songwriter to their own Spaghetti label and produced several of his tracks. Neil also sings backup on some of his songs.
Claptone
The calculatedly mysterious German DJ/production artist Claptone—who has been described by one writer as "multiple DJs who perform under the same masked moniker" (widely believed to include Christoph Göttsch and/or Daniel Brems, who had previously recorded together as Malente & Dex)—released their fourth album Closer in 2021. One of its tracks, "Queen of Ice," with guest artists the Canadian band Dizzy, featuring vocalist and co-songwriter Katie Munshaw, was released as a single the following January. The Pet Shop Boys remixed the single, with Chris providing additional keyboards and Neil some subtle support vocals.
Anne Dudley
She's collaborated often enough with the Boys to get a list of her own.
Eighth Wonder
In their first outside collaboration, Neil and Chris wrote and produced the song "I'm Not Scared" (and its French-translation b-side) for this band featuring Patsy Kensit. PSB later recorded it themselves, of course.
Electronic
Electronic consists of New Order singer/guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, both of them friends of the Boys'. Neil and Chris co-wrote and performed on the track "The Patience of a Saint." Also Neil co-wrote and performed on "Getting Away with It" (for which Chris also played synth bass) and "Disappointed" (apparently without Chris's active involvement). Johnny Marr has in turn assisted the Pet Shop Boys on quite a few tracks—so many, in fact, that I've created a separate list devoted to Marr's work with the Boys.
Example
British singer/rapper Example (born Elliot John Gleave) appears as guest vocalist on the Electric track "Thursday." (He even briefly turned up as a surprise guest star to perform his rap in the song live at the June 18, 2013 PSB concert at London's O2 Arena.) At the time of the PSB album's release, Example had enjoyed two U.K. Top 10 albums and ten U.K. Top 40 singles, two of which reached #1. (So far, however, he's had comparatively little success outside of Britain, and has had no U.S. hits.)
Fat Les 2000
This somewhat ad-hoc novelty act, consisting primarily of actor/comedian Keith Allen, artist Damien Hirst, and Blur bassist Alex James, scored an unexpected hit in 2000 with their orchestrated football/soccer-anthem rendition of the English hymn "Jerusalem." Although both Boys got credit for the "Pet Shop Boys Mix," Chris alone remixed it, giving it their by then familiar hi-NRG/techno treatment. Neil granted his blessing to the project, but he does not sing backup, as has sometimes been reported.
Brandon Flowers
In addition to his performing onstage with the Pet Shop Boys (and Lady Gaga) during the 2009 BRIT Awards telecast—during which he presented them with their "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award—and (as noted below) the Boys remixing his band The Killers' 2007 single "Read My Mind," Flowers also benefitted from Neil contributing a single spoken line remotely, via iPhone, to the track "I Can Change" from his 2015 solo album The Desired Effect. Neil subsequently made a cameo appearance in the music video for the song. Wielding an acoustic guitar, Neil made a surprise appearance onstage with Flowers at a September 26, 2015 concert in Los Angeles, during which they duetted on "Rent" and the Killers' song "Human."
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Led by the former Oasis guitarist/songwriter cited in their moniker, this band's 2023 album Council Skies appears in an alternate Deluxe Edition that features a PSB remix of the song "Think of a Number."
Girls Aloud
The Boys not only co-wrote "The Loving Kind" for them but also provide keyboards and programming on the track. In addition, Neil's voice—digitally "pitched up" somewhat—can be heard in the chorus.
Morten Harket
Neil and Chris provided the former lead singer of the Norwegian band a-Ha with the song "Listening," which he included on his 2012 album Out of My Hands. Neil sings backup on Harket's recording. (The Boys subsequently released their own rendition as a b-side with their single "Memory of the Future.")
Chrissie Hynde/The Pretenders
The singer-songwriter-leader of the legendary band The Pretenders sang "Four Songs in A Minor," which included a duet with Neil on "Rent," at the July 23, 2014 BBC Proms concert devoted to music by the Pet Shop Boys. Then, in early 2017, Neil duetted with Chrissie on the single version of the Pretenders song "Let's Get Lost."
Jean-Michel Jarre
The Boys collaborated with this pioneering French electronic musician and composer on the track "Brick England," which appears on Jarre's album Electronica 2, released in May 2016.
Elton John
PSB and Elton have a number of collaborations to their mutual credit, including duet remakes of Elton's "Believe/Song for Guy," the Boys' "In Private," and Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally." Neil also co-wrote and performed the 2008 Christmas song "Joseph, Better You Than Me" with Elton and with Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers. And PSB co-produced (with Stuart Price) the May 2021 charity single remake of "It's a Sin" by Elton and Years & Years.
The Killers
In addition to Neil's co-writing and providing vocals on the aforementioned "Joseph, Better You Than Me" with this band's lead singer Brandon Flowers and Elton John, both Pet Shop Boys together did a remix of the Killers' song "Read My Mind," released as a single in early 2007. And the Boys appeared onstage as previously unannounced special guests of The Killers at their June 29, 2019 show at the Glastonbury Festival, during which the two bands duetted on two songs: "Always on My Mind" and The Killers' own "Human" (a song that Flowers once described as "Johnny Cash meets the Pet Shop Boys").
Lady GaGa
The Boys did a terrific remix of her 2009 single "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)." She also performed onstage with them (and the aforementioned Brandon Flowers) during their 2009 Brits Awards Show hits medley.
Little Britain
Not only did this British comedy duo appear in the Boys' "I'm with Stupid" video but (more importantly from my perspective) Neil and Chris have remixed their song "I'm Gay." The PSB remix, however, has not yet been released.
Madonna
Chris and Neil remixed her song "Sorry" for single release, and Neil provides additional vocals.
Johnny Marr
Like the aforementioned Anne Dudley, he deserves his own list of work with the Boys.
MGMT
The Boys made two remixes of "Kids," a 2008 hit single by the U.S. band MGMT (originally known as "The Management"), centered on Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser.
Liza Minnelli
Neil and Chris produced her Results album and also wrote and performed on many of its songs.
Kylie Minogue
The Boys provided her with the song "Falling," though she decided against relying on their services for its production. Later she duetted with Neil on the PSB track "In Denial."
Miyuki Motegi
Chris and Neil supplied this Japanese singer with the music and demo production for the song "All or Nothing" on her 2002 debut album MIU. Neil also sings background vocals on the track. Calling this a "collaboration," however, stretches the term a bit. You see, they haven't actually worked with her; in fact, they didn't even meet her until after the track was recorded and released. But, then again, since Motegi wrote most of the lyrics (in Japanese) to the music they composed, you can make a stronger argument for true collaboration from that perspective.
Panti Bliss
This Irish drag artist and gay activist (born Rory O'Neill) delivered a rousing speech about homophobia and anti-gay oppression at the Abbey Theatre in London on February 1, 2014. After a recording of it "went viral," the Pet Shop Boys decided to compose a new backing track upon which they overlaid excerpts of the speech. They then shared the track with Panti, who loved it so much that he immediately posted it on SoundCloud for general distribution in early March 2014.
Phil Oakey
The Human League lead singer shares vocal duties with both Neil and Chris on the Yes limited edition (etc.) bonus track "This Used to Be the Future."
Yoko Ono
In what is perhaps one of the most surprising collaborations of their career, Chris and Neil remixed and provided "additional production" for a reissue of Ono's classic "Walking on Thin Ice," which became a major dance club hit all over again in 2003.
Courtney Pine
Although "collaboration" may not quite be the right word, this great British jazz musician—best known as a saxophonist but also adept at other woodwinds as well as keyboards—performed the sax solo on the Boys' production of "Nothing Has Been Proved" for Dusty Springfield. He subsequently toured and performed onstage with PSB on their 1989 tour (reportedly getting some flack from certain quarters of the jazz world for having done so) and can therefore be seen in their Highlights live video. So he has certainly collaborated with them in making music. The crown, incidentally, has awarded both an OBE (Order of the British Empire) and a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) to Pine for his services to British music.
Rammstein
Two remixes by the Boys are included on the 2004 single "Mein Teil" by the notorious German "alternative metal" band. Although the original lyrics are in German, Neil added a few words of English to their remixes.
Torsten Rasch and the Dresdner Sinfoniker
The Pet Shop Boys' original score for The Battleship Potemkin was orchestrated by the German orchestral composer Tosten Rasch, himself having written several film scores. And they performed it with the Dresdner Sinfoniker (Dresden Chamber Orchestra), conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer.
Peter Rauhofer
Rauhofer, who succumbed to brain cancer in May 2013, was the man behind the popular Club 69 dance tracks. Not only did he remix "I Don't Know What You Want…", but he also worked with the Boys (or perhaps just Neil) on the dance-hit remake of "Break 4 Love," which is apparently not an "official" Pet Shop Boys track but rather by "Peter Rauhofer + Pet Shop Boys = The Collaboration."
Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley
Neil and Chris created the notorious "Absolutely Fabulous" charity single with them.
Misha Singer
This Czech-born, German-based vocalist released the PSB-composed song "Diddly Squat" in March 2021. Interestingly, that's the song that evolved into "All or Nothing," released nearly two decades previously by Miyuki Motegi (see above). As in that case, "collaboration" may be something of a stretch since it appears that the Boys' only involvement with this track is as songwriters. It was actually Misha's producers, Steve Gobin and Markus Wagner, who wrote the English lyrics, making them more the true "collaborators."
Sleaford Mods
This U.K. duo covered "West End Girls" to benefit the homelessness charity Shelter in late 2023. For their part, the Pet Shop Boys contributed a remix of the track—including new background vocals by Neil and additional keyboards by Chris—for the 12-inch single.
Soft Cell
The U.K. synth duo Marc Almond and Dave Ball, best known for their 1981 smash "Tainted Love," collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on the 2022 re-recorded single of the Almond/Ball song "Purple Zone," which appears on the Soft Cell album Happiness Not Included, released that same year. Marc shares vocals with Neil, and the Boys provided additional production.
Dusty Springfield
Surely their best-known collaboration by virtue of the huge international hit "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Subsequently Chris and Neil produced half of her Reputation album, for which they also wrote four songs.
Sam Taylor-Wood (aka Sam Taylor-Johnson)
This British photographer/videographer created the "backstage conversation" films from which the Boys seem to step directly onto the stage in their "Somewhere" show and concert video. But more like a true collaboration is their performance together of "Je T'Aime…Moi Non Plus," with Ms. Taylor-Wood supplying a, shall we say, orgasmic vocal. Chris and Neil have also produced a remake of the classic Donna Summer song "Love to Love You, Baby," performed by Ms. Taylor-Wood under the stage name of Kiki Kokova. And under her own name she has recorded the PSB-produced cover "I'm in Love with a German Film Star," originally a 1981 hit by the Passions.
Caroll Thompson
A British singer in diverse styles—including reggae, funk, dance, and ballads—her long and prolific career has enabled her to achieve only middling success. Neil and Chris produced her remake of the classic disco hit "Let the Music Play," which appeared on the soundtrack of The Crying Game.
Wolfgang Tillmans
A German artist best known as a photographer, Tillmans was tapped by the Pet Shop Boys to create the video for their 2002 single "Home and Dry." A more directly musical collaboration took place in 2022 when Neil and Chris remixed the single "Insanely Alive" from Tillmans's album Moon in Earthlight, released the year before.
Tina Turner
Chris and Neil wrote and produced "Confidential" for her; Neil also sings backup on her rendition. Their own version later appeared as a b-side.
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus sang lead on "Casanova in Hell" as a guest vocalist at the Boys' May 2006 show with the BBC Radio Orchestra, documented on the live Concrete album. Neil also served a "consulting producer" role on Wainwright's 2007 album Release the Stars and appears as support performer on several of its tracks, starting with the opening cut, "Do I Disappoint You?" On June 12, 2015, Neil appeared as a surprise guest onstage during a concert by Rufus in London, at which time they duetted on Rufus's song "Poses." And Rufus provides backing vocals on the 2016 track "Wiedersehen."
Paul Weller
Former member of The Jam and Style Council, with a long solo career also to his credit, singer-songwriter Weller released his album Fat Pop (Volume 1) in May 2021. Its lead track and single, "Cosmic Fringes," was remixed by the Pet Shop Boys, although their mix doesn't appear on either the album or original single. Instead, the PSB "Triad Remix" appeared on a follow-up "Cosmic Fringes Remixes" single released the following July.
Nico Wieditz
German electropop artist Nico Wieditz, a member of the bands And One and Condition Icon—both of which had released cover versions of PSB songs ("It's a Sin" in the case of And One, and "Love Comes Quickly," "Rent," and "Suburbia" by Condition Icon)— released the track "Eternity" on his 2021 solo album Una Corda. The album's credits list Neil as having co-composed with Wieditz the music of this song (as opposed to its lyrics), but no other specific information with regard to this collaboration and its surround circumstances has to date been released either by Wieditz or by the Pet Shop Boys.
Robbie Williams
Neil and Chris co-wrote with Robbie and produced the song "She's Madonna" on his 2006 album Rudebox. They also produced his cover of "We're the Pet Shop Boys" for the same album. Other collaborative activities have included Neil singing backup on Robbie's track "No Regrets" and Robbie returning the favor by performing "Jealousy" at the show documented on the live album Concrete.
Allee Willis
The Pet Shop Boys co-wrote "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" with this multi-talented woman, who boasts a fascinating résumé. An author, director, singer, songwriter, painter, ceramist (one who works in ceramics), set designer, and performance artist, she has a number of other hit co-writing credits, including the theme for Friends, "I'll Be There for You," as well as Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," and Maxine Nightingale's "Lead Me On." As her alter ego "Bubbles the Artist" she has collaborated with Lily Tomlin and done portraits of assorted luminaries, including Jesse Jackson, Tracey Ullman, and PeeWee Herman. She has directed several short films, designed sets for a variety of TV shows and music videos (receiving several awards in the process), and served as a consultant for Disney, Microsoft, and America Online. And more recently she has co-composed the scores for two Broadway musicals, The Color Purple and Hot Feet. But even if she had done nothing else, she would deserve our eternal gratitude for having discovered and promoted the astonishingly camp Del Rubio Triplets—three elderly, somewhat overweight women (yes, actual identical triplets) sporting blonde wigs, miniskirts, go-go boots, and acoustic guitars. They subsequently guested on PeeWee's Playhouse and even recorded a cover of "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" on their 1988 album Three Gals, Three Guitars. Of such stuff legends are made.
Xenomania
This U.K. production team, led by Brian Higgins, produced the Boys' 2009 album Yes, in the process co-writing several of its tracks. Neil and Chris also collaborated with Xenomania in co-writing and performing on "The Loving Kind" for Girls Aloud (as noted above).
Years & Years / Olly Alexander
Neil and Chris co-wrote the song "Dreamland" with Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander, and it was released as a single in September 2019, credited to "Pet Shop Boys featuring Years & Years." It was subsequently included on the Boys' next album, Hotspot, released in January 2020. Alexander also duetted with Elton John on a charity remake of "It's a Sin" that was co-produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Stuart Price. (Alexander had released an altogether separate cover of the song several months beforehand, although his solo rendition wasn't produced by PSB. His duet with Elton was credited to Elton John and Years & Years.)
And though it's not really a "PSB collaboration"
since apparently only Chris was involved, we shouldn't neglect "Do
the Right Thing" by British soccer star Ian Wright. By the same token, other
"solo" moments—such as Neil's collabortion with Tom Stephan (Superchumbo)
on "Tranquilizer," his guest
vocal on Dan Fresh's "Throw," his vocals on "Were You There?" by Diamond Version, and
such occasions as when Neil performed on stage with Suede, as well as Chris's lead vocal on "Subculture" by Stop Modernists—don't really count
here.
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