Chris Lowe

Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in Blackpool, Lancashire, and attended Arnold School. His grandfather 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 earned a BA (Hons) in 1981. During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, 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 got a B.Arch, 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.

Lowe generally performs as the Pet Shop Boys' keyboardist. He occasionally provides spoken-word or sung vocals and takes the lead on a few songs, including "Paninaro".

Lowe played trombone on the song "I Want a Lover", and he appeared with his trombone in the video for the song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?".

In 1993, he wrote and produced the track "Do the Right Thing" for Arsenal footballer Ian Wright. The song featured backing vocals by long-time Pet Shop Boys backing singer Sylvia Mason-James, and the single featured remixes by Rollo.

Two years later, Lowe had a cameo in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. His appearance was filmed while Pet Shop Boys were touring Australia in 1994.

In 2004, he was commissioned to do music for an advertisement for the sunscreen brand Blockhead. The song ended up in a remixed version on a "Café Mambo" compilation.

Lowe wrote the music for the song "Streets of Berlin", featured in the 2006 revival of Bent at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall.

In 2011, Lowe appeared as featured vocalist on Stop Modernists' cover version of the New Order song "Subculture". It was the first time he had appeared as a vocalist on a non-Pet Shop Boys project. ...

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