How much is Neil Tennant worth?

What is Neil Tennant’s Net Worth?

Neil Tennant is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and music journalist who has a net worth of $14 million. Neil Tennant is best known for being the co-founder of the synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. Tennant worked as a journalist for Smash Hits and also served as assistant editor for the magazine.

The British actor David Tennant was actually born David McDonald. When he learned there was another David McDonald in the acting guild he wanted to join, he changed his name to David Tennant, intentionally as a reference to Neil.

Early Life

Neil Francis Tennant was born on July 10, 1954, in North Shields, Tyneside, England. Neil Francis was born to sales representative William W. Tennant and Sheila M. Tennant. Neil is a middle child with an older sister named Susan and two younger brothers named Simon and Philip. Tennant grew up in Greenfield Road, Brunton Park, and moved there shortly after he was born.

Tennant attended an all-boys Catholic school named St. Cuthbert’s Grammar School.  His songs “This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave” and “It’s a Sin” are based on his years growing up in a strict Catholic school. Tennant played the guitar and cello during primary school.

When Tennant was 16, he joined his first band, named Dust. Dust played folk music and had one popular song named “Can You Hear the Dawn Break?” The band was reportedly influenced by  The Incredible String Band.

Early Career

In 1975, Tennant had just graduated from North London Polytechnic with a degree in history. He went on to work as the production editor for Marvel UK (the UK branch of Marvel Comics) for two years. On the side, Tennant would write features for the comics, including interviews with pop stars Marc Bolan and Alex Harvey.

In 1977, Tennant started working at Macdonald Educational Publishing. Here, he edited “The Dairy Book of Home Management” and various illustrated books about cooking, playing the guitar, and other home interests. He quickly moved to ITV Books, where he edited TV tie-in books.

After having Steve Bush, designer of “Smash Hits,” to design a book about the group Madness, Tennant was offered a job from Bush himself at “Smash Hits.” He became the teen pop magazine’s editor in 1982. Just one year later, he was promoted to assistant editor. At “Smash Hits,” he had the opportunity to often travel to New York and interview big-name bands such as The Police.

Steve Finn/Getty Images

Pet Shop Boys

In 1981, Neil Tennant met Chris Lowe at the Chelsea Record Centre in Chelsea, London.  Tennant had purchased a Korg MS-10 synthesizer, which sparked a conversation with Lowe. The two discovered they had mutual interests in disco and electronic music and quickly became close friends. Later that year, they formed the synth-pop duo band the Pet Shop Boys. Tennant and Lowe say their band name was inspired by their friends who worked at a pet shop in Ealing and were, thus, known as the town’s “pet shop boys.”

In 1983, Tennant was juggling being in a start-up band while still holding his assistant editor job at “Smash Hits.” His job took him to New York in August to interview Sting. While there, he also arranged a meet-up with producer Bobby Orlando. Tennant gave Orlando a demo tape containing “It’s a Sin” and “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money).” Orlando was sold, and from 1983 to 1984, he recorded 11 tracks with Tennant and Lowe.  In April 1984, “West End Girls” was released, and the Pet Shop Boys rose to international fame. The song became a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 50 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of “The Guinness Book of Records.” They are three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees. Since 1984, they have had 22 singles rank in the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, including four UK No. 1s. Their most famous song being “West End Girls.”

At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, the Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.  In 2016, Billboard newspaper named the Pet Shop Boys as the No. 1 dance duo/group since the chart was founded in 1976. In 2017, the duo received NME’s Godlike Genius Award.

(Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Personal Life

In 1994, in an interview with Attitude magazine, Tennant came out as gay. He is an avid supporter of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He has criticized against ageism in the music industry. In 2013, Tennant said in an interview that radio hosts would tell him they wanted to play Pet Shop Boys song but chose not to because the duo, in their 50s, were “too old.”

Tennant owns two houses – one in London and another in County Durham (the countryside of North East England). He and Lowe also have an apartment in Berlin.