Neil Tennant has hit out at the Anti Hero singer (Picture: Getty Images)
Neil Tennant from The Pet Shop Boys has taken aim at Taylor Swift as he claimed that the 14-time Grammy Award winner doesn’t have any ‘famous songs’.
Swift, 34, just released a new album titled The Tortured Poets Department which has already become Spotify’s most streamed record in one week as it hit one billion streams in a short space of time.
The Cardigan singer’s success is undeniable, yet fellow artists are still lining themselves up for the wrath of the Swifties by taking aim at the pop star and critiquing her success.
The latest singer to attack the Lover singer is Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant, 69, who found fame in the 80s with hits such as It’s A Sin, West End Girls, and a cover of Elvis’ Always On My Mind.
The singer from the 80s duo band said that Swift’s success was ‘fascinating’ because she doesn’t have a ‘famous song’.
‘Taylor Swift sort of fascinates me as a phenomenon because she’s so popular, and I sort of quite like the whole thing, but then when I listen to the records … for a phenomenon as big as she is, where are the famous songs?’
He then compared the Cruel Summer singer to Michael Jackson.
‘What’s Taylor Swift’s Billie Jean?’
The Pet Shop Boys released their first single in 1984 (Picture: Lester Cohen/Getty Images)
In the interview with The Mirror, Tennant did say that he liked the Love Story’s singer’s lyrics, but said that her music was ‘disappointing’.
The co-founder of the synth-pop duo said: ‘I like the fact it brings people together but the one disappointing thing is the music, not the lyrics.’
The Pet Shop Boys have been nominated for seven Grammy Awards but have never won, the band won two Brit Awards in the 80s and another Brit in 2009 for their Outstanding Contribution to Music.
Swift released her first hit song, Tim McGraw, in 2006 (Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
In an interview with BBC, Tennant made similar comments as he spoke about how her songs aren’t well known, arguing that the average grandmother wouldn’t know one of her songs.
‘I’d be very interested, if I’m still alive, to see how Taylor Swift is regarded in years to come because she has this massive success – but normally with people with massive success, there’s a popular legacy of songs that everyone knows.’
‘If you’re Michael Jackson, who doesn’t know Billie Jean or Beat It? With Taylor Swift I never feel it’s the moment where your grandmother knows her song.’
When asked if it’s because of the current media age when hundred of thousands of songs are released every day, Tenant’s Pet Shop Boys bandmate, Chris Lowe, argued: ‘But we all know Harry Styles’ As It Was.’
Tennant then joked: ‘I know it, and I’m old enough to be a grandmother.’
The band are performing this summer across Europe (Picture: Tabatha Fireman/Redferns)
Neil Tennant is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Pet Shop Boys debut single, West End Girls.
The band has also released a new ‘queer’ record, their 15th studio album and was reportedly written during lockdown.
Pet Shop Boys’ album Nonetheless was released on April 26.
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