Elvis Costello

**Declan Patrick MacManus**, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as **Elvis Costello**, is an English singer-songwriter. He has won multiple awards in his career, including Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. 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*Template:'s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, though differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello's work since has been as a solo artist, though 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 encyclopaedia", able to "reinvent the past in his own image".

Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including "God Give Me Strength" from *Grace of My Heart* (1996, with Burt Bacharach) and "The Scarlet Tide" from *Cold Mountain* (2003, with T-Bone Burnett). For the latter, Elvis was nominated (along with Burnett) for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

1. ↑ His full given name is sometimes inaccurately listed as **Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus**, including as published in the Birthday Honours List 2019, in which he received his OBE and which is often considered authoritative of such matters, but Aloysius was not one of his names at birth. Costello began using the name "Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus" (or sometimes, "D.P.A. MacManus") in both the writing and production credits of his albums in 1986, although this was largely phased out by the mid-1990s. It has been suggested that Aloysius could be his confirmation name, or that the use of the name Aloysius is a reference to English comedian Tony Hancock, born Anthony John Hancock, who became famous in the UK playing a comic character who went by the name Anthony Aloysius St. John Hancock.
2. ↑ Template:Cite news
3. ↑ Grammy Award Winners 2020 List by Zoe Haylock, Vulture.com, 26 January 2020.
4. ↑ Elvis Costello BRITS Profile Template:Webarchive BRIT Awards Ltd
5. ↑ Elvis Costello and the Attractions Rockhall.com.
6. ↑ 100 Greatest Artists: Elvis Costello *Rolling Stone*.
7. ↑ Template:Cite news
8. ↑ Template:Cite encyclopediaTemplate:Dubious
9. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, [[[:Template:Allmusic]] *Get Happy!!* [Ryko Bonus Tracks]], Allmusic. Retrieved 17 September 2007.