In 2023, the band criticized Drake for using their song “West End Girls” in his song “All the Parties” without permission.
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From left: Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant of The Pet Shop Boys; Drake
There is only love between Drake and the Pet Shop Boys!
In an interview with Rolling Stone published on Saturday, May 4, the British synthpop band spoke about what happened to Drake (whose real name is Aubrey Graham) after they mentioned him in a 2023 post on X (formerly Twitter) for using their song “West End Girls” on his 2023 song “All the Parties” from his album For all dogs without asking for permission.
The duo’s singer, Neil Tennant, said he learned from his brother that the 37-year-old rapper sang lyrics from the band’s 1986 debut single in his song.
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Chris Lowe (left) and Neil Tennant of The Pet Shop Boys in London in October 2013
“We get a lot of requests, so I thought maybe we agreed to that? But this, I thought we would remember,” said Tennant, 69, Rolling Stoneand added that his manager confirmed that they had neither received a request nor given the Canadian rapper permission.
“So we put out a post on social media because we thought that was the best way to make everyone aware,” Tennant continued, noting that the tactic worked because after about 15 minutes, Drake’s team called her team and was “profusely apologetic.”
Drake reportedly wanted to talk to the Pet Shop Boys about it himself, but a meeting never took place.
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“The whole release thing is sorted,” Tennant said, adding: “I really like the track.”
Chris Lowe, the other half of the duo, said to his musical partner during the Rolling Stone Q&A: “I would like to know how Drake gets that vocal sound, because I would love to hear You to sing like that.”
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Drake in London in September 2019
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“We need to know his trick. What is it – how does he do it? It’s a bit like AutoTune, right?” Tennant said of the way Drake sounds when he sings the lyrics to “West End Girls.”
Tennant recently helped the Pet Shop Boys make headlines by saying Taylor Swift’s songs were less iconic than Michael Jackson’s.
Related: Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys calls Taylor Swift’s music ‘disappointing’: ‘Where are the famous songs?’
When Rolling Stone noticed that some of the songs on Swift’s album 1989 sound like the music of the Pet Shop Boys, Tennant said he likes “The Archer” from their 2019 album Lover, but she “didn’t get that much out of” some of the work she did with Aaron Dressner.
“Taylor, I don’t fully understand it, I really do. But she’s obviously incredibly prolific and I love that she re-recorded her early albums to spite whoever they were sold to,” he said.
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