The lead singer of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant, and a crew member have been mugged in Rio de Janeiro, a day after playing the Rock in Rio music festival.
A spokesman for the band, known for songs West End Girls and Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money), said Tennant and the group’s long-time programmer, Pete Gleadall, both had their mobile phones stolen.
The incident was revealed on Thursday in a report in the online gossip column of O Globo, a Rio newspaper. O Globo reported that Tennant and a member of the crew had left the Belmond Copacabana Palace hotel for a walk towards the Leme Beach area at around 8.30pm when they were confronted by four people who took money and mobile phones. It’s believed Pet Shop Boys then hired security staff to protect them for the duration of their stay.
Murray Chalmers, a spokesman for Pet Shop Boys, said the thieves were not armed. “They had no knives. Pete Gleadall had his phone stolen and reported it to the police. Neil [Tennant] had his phone stolen but didn’t report it. Pet Shop Boys are saying it wasn’t a big deal, and that it wasn’t violent and that phone theft is the most common crime in that area,” he said in an email.
Rio police said they had no official information on the case.
Tourists are regularly targeted by criminals in popular beach areas such as Copacabana.
