ELVIS COSTELLO's Band Description:
I don’t remember “discovering” Elvis Costello so much as getting sideswiped by him. One minute it’s the mid-’70s, scruffy clubs and cheap suits, the next there’s this sharp-eyed Londoner—born Declan Patrick MacManus in 1954—writing songs like he’s grinding his teeth through a smile. When "My Aim Is True" landed in 1977 on Stiff Records (label, not a band), it didn’t sound “introduced.” It sounded like it had already been arguing with you for years.
The late ’70s and early ’80s run is where I stop pretending I’m neutral. "This Year's Model" and "Armed Forces" hit like fast, literate punches. Then he swerved—because of course he did—into the hyper-caffeinated soul-pop of "Get Happy!", and later the clockwork bite of "Punch the Clock". With The Attractions behind him, the songs stopped being “tracks” and became a habit: tight, tense, a little smug, and somehow still relatable. Annoying talent, that.
What keeps him interesting is the refusal to stay put. He’ll write with Paul McCartney, trade elegance with Burt Bacharach, or wander into classical territory with the Brodsky Quartet—not as “career moves,” but like a man restless in his own skin. Some collaborations feel inevitable. Others feel like he woke up and chose chaos, which I can respect.
By the time he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 (with The Attractions), the canon was already heavy. But he never behaved like a legacy act. He turns up, rearranges the furniture, and dares you to keep up. Even when he’s “just touring,” it rarely feels like a victory lap. More like he’s still testing the wiring.
On the home front, he married jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall in 2003, and they have twin sons, Dexter and Frank (born in New York City in 2006). They’ve shared stages and songs often enough that it feels less like a celebrity fun-fact and more like a working household: two serious musicians, one roof, and no patience for pretending.
