Chris Lowe

Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981. He is primarily the keyboardist and occasionally a vocalist, and he is the co-author of the catalogue of Pet Shop Boys songs with his writing partner, Tennant. Lowe is known for his impassive stage persona, standing still behind a keyboard with his head and eyes covered.

Biography

Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in Blackpool, Lancashire, and attended Arnold School. His grandfather, Syd Flood, was a trombonist and a member of the comedy jazz troupe The Nitwits. His mother was a dancer, and his father, a sales representative, could play piano by ear. Lowe learned trombone and piano and was in the school orchestra and dance band. He studied music as an A-level subject.

Lowe played trombone in a semi-professional seven-piece dance band named One Under the Eight that performed favourites like "Hello Dolly", "La Bamba" and "Moon River", and he joined the Musicians' Union with them. He was also in a local brass band, the Norman Memorial Youth Band, and briefly played keyboards with a school rock band called Stallion.

Lowe began studying architecture at the University of Liverpool in 1978 and received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in 1981. During a work placement in 1981 at Michael Aukett Associates architectural practice in London, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in Milton Keynes. It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in Chelsea Record Centre, a hi-fi shop on King's Road in London. As their music career developed, Lowe continued his architecture course and earned a Bachelor of Architecture, but did not complete the final work requirement to qualify as an architect before he and Tennant committed full time to the Pet Shop Boys in 1985.