Elvis Costello Biography

Elvis Costello wasn’t always a musician. He began working as a computer programmer in the 1970’s, but during his free time, he performed in various local clubs around town.  Eventually, one of Elvis Costello’s demo tapes reached Jake Riviera, an executive at a floundering independent record label. He signed Elvis Costello in 1977, and began work on assembling a back up band for the new artist.

The Attractions were established after Pete Thomas, Bruce Thomas, and Steve Nieve joined Elvis Costello. My Aim is True was released in 1977, to moderate success, and the single “Watching the Detectives” climbed to number fifteen on the charts. This Year’s Model followed, and reached number thirty on the charts.
Costello released a series of albums in the years following, including Armed Forces (1979), Get Happy!! (1980), Trust (1981), Almost Blue (1981), Imperial Bedroom (1982), Punch the Clock (1983), Goodbye Cruel World (1984), King of America (1986), Blood & Chocolate (1986), and Spike (1989.)

The 1990’s saw five additional albums from Elvis Costello: Mighty Like A Rose (1991), The Juliet Letters (1993), Brutal Youth (1994), Kojak Variety (1995), and All This Useless Beauty (1996.) He then took a hiatus from new album releases, focusing his attention instead on collaborative works and other endeavors, before returning with When I Was Cruel in 2002.  Additional albums in the new millennium followed, including North (2003), The Delivery Man (2004), Momofuku (2008), Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane (2009) and National Ransom (2010.)

Today, Elvis Costello is still considered one of America’s most iconic and accomplished musicians. He recently released the collaborative album, Wise Up Ghost (2013), with the Roots. Costello ranks on the Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. His additional awards include a Grammy and multiple Brit Award nominations. He also has an Academy Award nomination for “The Scarlet Tide,” from the 2003 film Cold Mountain. Costello’s memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, arrived in 2015.