Elvis Costello Biography Quotes 27 Report mistakes

Early Life
Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus in London in 1954. Music surrounded him from the beginning: his father, Ross MacManus, was a professional singer and trumpeter best known for his work with the Joe Loss Orchestra, and his mother, Lilian, worked in a record shop. The family connection to song, performance, and the mechanics of the music business provided an unusually direct education. As a teenager he gravitated toward songwriting and bands, splitting time between London and Merseyside and absorbing everything from Merseybeat and R&B to folk, country, and early pub rock.

Beginnings and Breakthrough
Before he became known to the public, he held day jobs while writing songs at night and playing in groups including Flip City. His stage name took shape in the mid-1970s when manager Jake Riviera encouraged him to adopt the bold forename Elvis and revive Costello from a stage name once used by his father. Signed to the independent Stiff Records by Riviera and Dave Robinson, he recorded his debut album My Aim Is True (1977), initially backed by members of the American band Clover. The record introduced his sharp lyrical voice and melodic craft through songs like Alison and Watching the Detectives.

A now-famous television moment broadened his profile when, during a 1977 appearance on Saturday Night Live, he stopped a song mid-performance and launched Radio, Radio in open defiance of the show's plan, a move that earned a temporary ban and a lasting reputation for independence of mind.

The Attractions and New Wave Classics
Soon after his debut, he formed The Attractions with Steve Nieve (keyboards), Bruce Thomas (bass), and Pete Thomas (drums). That lineup defined his breakthrough run: This Year's Model (1978) offered taut rhythms and barbed wit; Armed Forces (1979) married pop sheen to political unease; and Get Happy!! (1980) paid loving homage to soul and R&B in short, punchy tracks. Singles such as Pump It Up, Oliver's Army, Accidents Will Happen, and (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea became touchstones of the era. Producer Nick Lowe, a kindred spirit from the pub-rock scene, was a vital collaborator through these years, shaping a sound both lean and immediate.

Expanding the Palette
Costello's appetite for stretching genre boundaries became a defining trait. With producer Geoff Emerick, Imperial Bedroom (1982) explored complex arrangements and chamber-pop textures. Punch the Clock (1983), produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, delivered pop craftsmanship and political commentary, including Shipbuilding, co-written with Langer and featuring Chet Baker's mournful trumpet on Costello's version. Almost Blue (1981), cut in Nashville with country veteran Billy Sherrill, paid tribute to classic country songs, while King of America (1986), guided by T Bone Burnett and featuring players associated with Elvis Presley's TCB band such as James Burton, Jerry Scheff, and Ron Tutt, unveiled a more roots-oriented singer-songwriter voice. Blood and Chocolate (1986) returned to a rawer Attractions attack, closing a volatile but fertile chapter with the original lineup.

Songwriting Partnerships
Partnerships with other notable artists have been central to his work. With Paul McCartney he co-wrote a batch of late-1980s songs; Costello's Veronica became a major solo hit, and McCartney used several of their co-writes on his own albums. Costello and Burt Bacharach forged a deep alliance beginning with God Give Me Strength and culminating in the acclaimed Painted from Memory (1998). The Juliet Letters (1993), created with the Brodsky Quartet, bridged art song and pop. He also recorded with jazz and classical musicians, including a chamber project with soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, and later partnered with New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint on The River in Reverse (2006), a dialogue with Crescent City soul made in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Decades into his career he continued to seek fresh contexts, teaming with The Roots and Questlove for Wise Up Ghost (2013), which reframed his catalog and new material with deep, syncopated grooves.

Later Bands and Projects
After years of friction with bassist Bruce Thomas, Costello regrouped with Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve, adding Davey Faragher on bass to form The Imposters. That lineup powered When I Was Cruel (2002), The Delivery Man (2004), Momofuku (2008), and Look Now (2018), albums that balanced bite and elegance and drew on his long-honed strengths as an arranger and lyricist. He continued to revisit and reimagine earlier work in inventive ways, including Spanish Model (2021), which presented the songs of This Year's Model with Spanish-language vocalists, underscoring his international reach. The Boy Named If (2022) sustained his late-career vitality with the Imposters' crisp attack.

Writing, Film, and Television
Beyond recording and touring, Costello developed a parallel profile as a raconteur and interviewer. Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... brought him together with artists ranging from Smokey Robinson and Lou Reed to The Police, exploring songwriting and performance on television in unusually musical conversations. His memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, offered a reflective account of family, craft, fame, and the compromises and convictions that shape a life in music.

Personal Life
Relationships and family have appeared at the margins and the center of his songs. He married early and became a father while still finding his footing as a performer. In 1986 he married Cait O'Riordan of The Pogues; the marriage ended after many years. He later married the jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall, with whom he has twin sons. The influence of his father Ross MacManus, who performed well into later life, remained a touchstone; Costello has often described lessons learned from watching Ross command a stage and a studio. He has spoken candidly about missteps, including a notorious 1979 barroom outburst in the United States for which he later apologized, and about health challenges that briefly interrupted touring decades later.

Honors and Recognition
Costello and The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, a marker of the band's outsized impact on new wave and beyond. He has earned Grammy Awards and numerous nominations, notably for work with Burt Bacharach and for later albums with The Imposters. Across the United Kingdom and North America he is recognized as one of the most literate and adaptable songwriters of his generation, a figure whose catalog resists simple categorization.

Legacy
Elvis Costello's legacy rests on the rare combination of melodic generosity, verbal acuity, and restless curiosity. From the whip-smart rock of the Attractions to the stately melancholy of Painted from Memory, from deep R&B excavations to chamber music and hip-hop-inflected collaborations, he has made stylistic range feel like an organizing principle rather than a detour. Key allies such as Jake Riviera, Nick Lowe, Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, Bruce Thomas, T Bone Burnett, Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, and Questlove helped him test the elasticity of pop form without losing the thread of song. That through line is audible in early staples like Radio, Radio and Oliver's Army, in the moral weight of Shipbuilding, and in the rueful tenderness of Veronica. For several decades he has remained an artist both of his moment and outside it, alert to tradition yet unafraid to argue with it, a stance that continues to draw new listeners to the long conversation carried by his songs.

Our collection contains 27 quotes who is written by Elvis, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Music - Friendship - Deep - Faith.

Other people realated to Elvis: Aimee Mann (Musician), Alison Krauss (Musician), Roy Orbison (Musician), T-Bone Burnett (American), Marc Ribot (Musician), Marian McPartland (Musician), Dan Hicks (Musician), Wanda Jackson (Musician), Dave Edmunds (Musician), Bill Frisell (Musician)