Elvis Costello facts: Songs, TV appearances, marriages and real name of the new wave icon

8 June 2026, 08:50

Elvis Costello has gone from angry young man of new wave to a reluctant national treasure.

Elvis Costello is one of this country's most idiosyncratic pop superstars.

He started off as a Secret Lemonade Drinker, was cast as an Angry Young Man, but has long shrugged off those labels to become simply an all-time great songwriter and performer.

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But how much do you know about Elvis Costello?

From his hit singles, acclaimed albums and cheeky TV cameos to his high profile marriages, children and real name, we've put together a beginner's guide to the story of Elvis.

Read on for all the fast facts.

How old is Elvis Costello and what is his real name?

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down

Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus on August 25, 1954, at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London.

While he is a Londoner, his mum Lillian was born and grew up in Toxeth, Liverpool, and his dad was from Birkenhead.

In his earliest music days, he presented himself as DP Costello. His dad Ross had used Costello – his grandmother's maiden name – as a stagename, and Declan paired that up to his own initials.

It wasn't until February 1977 that he became Elvis Costello, thanks to Stiff Records founders Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson, with that nod to Elvis Presley (who wouldn't die until six months after Costello borrowed his name), sure to grab attention.

Where did Elvis Costello grow up and what did he do before he became a musician?

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea

Costello grew up in Twickenham till he was about 16, when he moved to Liverpool, being raised Roman Catholic and being an altar boy into his teens.

His parents split when he was ten, and though he was raised by his mum he remained close to his dad. He went to Archbishop Myers secondary modern school in Hounslow and, after his move north, did sixth form at a comp in Everton where he got an A-level in English.

While still living at home, Costello worked asa computer operator at Midland Backdate centre in Bootle, and briefly as a clerk in the bank's Putney branch, too.

But at the same time, he was taking steps to establish himself as a musician.

How did Elvis Costello break into the music business?

Elvis Costello grew up in an incredibly musical family. His mum worked in record shops and his dad was a pro trumpet player and singer.

How famous was his dad? Not a superstar, but the birth of the man that would be Elvis Costello did merit an announcement in the NME in 1954 all the same.

Ross was a singer in the Joe Loss Orchestra and went to have his own solo cabaret act and make recordings for smaller record labels.

Elvis's mum and dad didn't bully him into music, but nevertheless it felt inevitable that he would follow in their footsteps.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - High Fidelity

A teen in the 1960s, Costello obviously loved The Beatles, as well as the music of the likes of Burt Bacharach, The Kinks, The Small Faces and The Who, as well as reggae and rocksteady and Motown, before transitioning into a love of folk rock.

Being the son of a working musician made it clear that it wasn't an easy life, but the death of a friend on the roads as a teenager changed his focus.

"Suddenly, everything but music seemed like a waste of precious time," he later wrote in his memoir.

While he would eventually burst on the scene like a newcomer in 1977 with the single 'Less Than Zero', Costello had been making music since the end of the 1960s.

Having taught himself to play guitar when he was 14, he played in various folk clubs in London and then Liverpool. He played in the folk rock band Rusty with Allan Mayes, before his return to London to play as Declan Costello.

R Whites Lemonade Classic Advert

It was around this time that he had a professional recording session with his old man. It's Elvis's dad Ross who sang the classic ad for R White's Lemonade ('Secret Lemonade Drinker'), with his son playing guitar and doing backing vox.

Elvis then formed folk rockers Flip City, juggling his role leading that band with working in North Acton as a computer operator for Elizabeth Arden.

He recorded plenty of failed demos with the group, and a few other as DP Costello, and it was around then that he caught the attention of Stiff Records and wrote songs for the album that would become the Nick Lowe-produced My Aim Is True.

In March 1977 he released flop single 'Less Than Zero', and a couple of flop follow-ups. But My Aim Is True quickly became a critical and commercial hit, launching Elvis Costello as both an Angry Young Man and a star.

What are Elvis Costello's biggest songs and albums?

Alison

Elvis Costello has released over 30 solo studio albums (with and without backing band The Imposters), plus a couple of handfuls of collaborative records, including 1998's Burt Bacharach hookup Painted from Memory.

He also wrote a dozen odd songs with another of his childhood inspirations, Paul McCartney, with those songs being released over various records between 1987 and 1996.

Costello's biggest albums include his earliest efforts, My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces and Get Happy!!, his 1980s standouts Imperial Bedroom, Punch The Clock and Spike.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Pump It Up

Into the 1990s, there were successes with Mighty Like a Rose and Brutal, and into the 2020s he was still scoring top ten successes with The Boy Named If.

Elvis Costello's biggest songs include:

• Less Than Zero
• Alison
• (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
• Watching The Detectives
• (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
• Pump It Up
• Radio Radio
• Oliver's Army
• I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
• High Fidelity
• Good Year for the Roses
• Pills and Soap
• I Wanna Be Loved
• Turning the Town Red
• Veronica
• Sulky Girl
• She
• Unwanted Number
• Magnificent Hurt

Has Elvis Costello cancelled 'Oliver's Army'?

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Oliver's Army

One of Costello's very biggest hits was 'Oliver's Army', taken from his 1979 album Armed Forces.

Inspired by The Troubles, the song was Costello's highest charting single, getting all the way to number two, with its heavy lyrics contrasting with its poppy production.

"I made my first trip to Belfast in 1978 and saw mere boys walking around in battle dress with automatic weapons. They were no longer just on the evening news," Costello – who had Northern Irish roots on his father's side – said.

"These snapshot experiences exploded into visions of mercenaries and imperial armies around the world. The song was based on the premise, 'They always get a working class boy to do the killing'."

Elvis Costello - Oliver’s Army (2023 Version) - Gramercy Theatre (2/11/2023)

But it wasn't the potentially controversial subject matter that caused the the most issues with the song.

The lyric "Only takes one itchy trigger / One more widow, one less white n***er" was always going to be contentious, and became only more so when it emerged that he used that word in a drunken argument with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett when referring to James Brown and Ray Charles.

He swiftly apologised and at a press conference and said that he was being intentionally horrible. "It became necessary for me to outrage these people with about the most obnoxious and offensive remarks that I could muster."

"Nothing could be further from the truth," said Elvis's dad in a letter to Rolling Stone of the suggestion that his son was racist. "My own background has meant that I am passionately opposed to any form of prejudice based on religion or race."

Elvis Costello and the Imposters ft Charlie Sexton-Oliver's Army live in Milwaukee, WI 10-17-25

The fuss died down somewhat over the decades, but in 2013 some radio stations started censoring the word in 'Olvier's Army'.

In January 2022, Elvis himself stopped playing the song and asked radio stations to stop playing it, too.

"That's what my grandfather was called in the British army - it's historically a fact," he told The Telegraph.

"But people hear that word... and accuse me of something that I didn't intend."

He added: "They're making it worse by bleeping it, for sure. Because they're highlighting it then. Just don't play the record!"

But by 2023, Elvis started playing the song again – but with the offending lyric ommited.

What other artists has Elvis Costello produced?

The Pogues - Dirty Old Town

Costello often works with other producers on his own albums, mainly Nick Lowe but also the likes of Geoff Emerick, Roger Béchirian, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.

But that doesn't mean he can't produce records himself, and he's been behind the desk for some incredibly significant records.

He produced The Specials' self-titled debut in 1979 (as well as The Special AKA single 'Free Nelson Mandela' in 1984), and The Pogues' Rum Sodomy & The Lash in 1985.

He also co-produced East Side Story for Squeeze together with Roger Béchirian in 1981.

What TV shows and movies has Elvis Costello appeared in?

Pete The Cat (Theme)

Elvis Costello has popped up a lot on the small screen (and occasionally the big one) over the years in various cameos

There's been the odd acting role (Americathon, Scully, The Bullsh**ters, No Surrender, Straight To Hell, Spice World, Frasier and Pete the Cat), but more often than not he's appeared as himself.

He's been himself (or a version of himself) in The Larry Sanders Show, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, 200 Cigarettes, Sans Plomb, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Simpsons, I Love Your Work, Dead Ringers, Two and a Half Men, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 30 Rock and Treme, among others.

Is Elvis Costello married and does he have any children?

Elvis Costello married schoolmate Mary Burgoyne in 1974, and they had a son in 1975. They split in 1984 and divorced in 1988.

He then had a relationship with The Pogues bass player Cait O'Riordan, and while they exchanged rings in 1986, they were never legally married.

They split in 2002, and the following year he married musician Diana Krall, and the pair had twins in 2006.