Elvis Costello

Born in Paddington, London, UK, Costello is the son of parents Lilian Alda and Ross MacManus, the latter of whom was a trumpet player and band leader.

Costello’s first musical endeavour was with the band Rusty, which he started when he moved to Liverpool, UK, with his mother in 1971. After returning to London, another band Flip City came into fruition and saw the singer/songwriter adopt a pub-rock style of music and performance. He was later signed to the independent label Stiff Records which suggested a name change, to which he combined Elvis Presley’s first name with the name his father performed with on stage, Costello. The label released the debut album “My Aim Is True” in 1976 to good reviews as well as the reggae-driven “Watching The Detectives”.

Later being associated with the punk and new wave scenes due to Costello’s unabashed passion and vigour. He soon made a name for himself with his eclectic, widely influenced instrumentation and style, drawing influences from folk and rock to ska and reggae, along with seemingly infinitely-literate lyrics. The 1978 album entitled “This Year’s Model” was the first recorded with his backing band The Attractions and featured more of a hard-rock sound than his earlier material.

Costello’s ambitious 1979 album “Armed Forces” took the band to No. 2 in the UK chart, as did Costello’s most successful single “Oliver’s Army”. This same year Costello found time to produce the debut album for the band The Special, sparking a ska revival.

The early 1980s were a very good time to be an Elvis Costello fan, in which time he released no fewer than nine albums including “Trust”, “Imperial Bedroom” and “Punch the Clock” and consistently toured with The Attractions, before tensions were raised between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas, which caused a split by 1986.

The majority of Costello’s work since the split has been as a solo artist, defined by his smart and diverse wordplay, genre-blurring music style and inherent passion. Costello has been awarded numerous awards throughout his career including a grammy, two Brit Award nominations for Best British Male, has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Rolling Stone ranked the band 80th on their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list.