On April 22, the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven is performed in London for the first time in fourteen years, in a sold-out month-long run at The Union Theatre. (It will return for a further five weeks beginning on October 21.). For this revival, at the Pet Shop Boys’ request, the musical’s original final number, “Positive role model”, is replaced by “Vocal”.
On August 15, the final date of the much-extended Electric tour – which began in March, 2013 – takes place at the Flow Festival in Helsinki. The tour has visited over forty countries.
On December 2, the Pet Shop Boys appear at MAMA – the Mnet Asian Music Awards – in Hong Kong. They are given the Worldwide Inspiration award and play a lengthy live medley, joined for their final two songs, “What have I done to deserve this?” and “Vocal”, by the K‑Pop artist f(x). At the organisers’ request, they wear the Electric tour straw jackets for, possibly, the final time.
The final day of an extended holiday break that the Boys have taken since December 17.
After a long but previously undisclosed battle with liver cancer, David Bowie passes away at the age of 69 at his home in New York City. The following day, Neil and Chris (who had collaborated with Bowie on the single version of ‘Hallo Spaceboy’) are among the countless artists who pay tribute to him, doing so in a brief but touching note on their official website that starts with the words, ‘We are all Bowie’s children.’