Sir Ian McKellen honours Pet Shop Boys at 15th Attitude Awards
Other winners last night at London's Roundhouse included Sugababes, Orville Peck and Jordan Stephens
Pet Shop Boys were awarded a Legend Award at the 15th anniversary Attitude Awards in London last night, presented by Sir Ian McKellen.
McKellen, who appeared in the legendary duo’s 1988 video for ‘Heart’ as a vampire, shared his love and admiration for the duo when presenting them with the award.
The actor said: “1988 – the best year of my life – that’s the year I stopped hiding and came out. It’s also the year I met the two boys in question. My agent called: do you fancy being in a music video?”
“I wasn’t sure what a pet shop was, but I knew about boys, so I said yes. And that’s how I met Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant.”
Collecting the award, Tennant said: “From the very beginning, we wanted to write electronic music that would make people want to think and dance at the same time. Meanwhile, the music created great euphoria, or alternatively provided solace if you arrived home alone.”
He then praised the queer community for their support of the band, telling the crowd: “Your lives are our lives, and that’s something we try to express in our songs. Thank you for the inspiration. We are all legends. And of course, we’d like to thank all our musical and creative collaborators. Ian was one of them.”
Other winners on the night included Sugababes, Orville Peck and Rizzle Kicks’ Jordan Stephens.