Elvis Costello

Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including two Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, two Ivor Novello Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Costello began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album My Aim Is True was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band. His second album This Year's Model was released in 1978, and was ranked number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the best albums from 1967 to 1987. His third album Armed Forces was released in 1979, and features his highest-charting single, "Oliver's Army" (number 2 in the UK). His first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003.

Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, although differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello's work since has been as a solo artist, although reunions with members of the Attractions have been credited to the group over the years. Costello's lyrics employ a wide vocabulary and frequent wordplay. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a "pop encyclopedia", able to "reinvent the past in his own image". Since 2002, his touring band (featuring a rotating cast of musicians) has been known as the Imposters.

Alongside his solo work, Costello has recorded collaborations with several artists, including Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, T-Bone Burnett, the Brodsky Quartet, Allen Toussaint and the Roots. He has also appeared as himself or fictionalised versions of himself on television and in film, and written for several music publications and published a memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, in 2015. Costello is viewed as a prominent figure in the new wave genre and considered by music figures as one of the best songwriters of his generation.

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Elvis Costello from  The Quietus, Vanity Fair

Elvis Costello: 'I bear a grudge, I'm vindictive'

Evening News  (September 1977)
with  David Hancock
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