जीवनी

Plays the guitar, harmonica and piano.

One of the stories behind his stage name is that the singer--whose real name is Declan McManus--took the first name of his favorite singer, Elvis Presley, and the last name of his favorite comedian, Lou Costello. The Presley part is correct, but "Costello" is not in honor of Lou Costello; it's the maiden name of his paternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Costello.

Legally changed name to Elvis Costello in 1977, then to Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus in 1986. Post-1986, he used both names for professional purposes, though he usually performed under the Costello moniker. "Aloysius" was not one of his original middle names.

Has twin sons, Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James, born December 6, 2006, with wife Diana Krall.

The instrumentals for his debut album, "My Aim Is True" were provided by a band called, Clover. For the album sessions, they were without their lead singer, Huey Lewis.

There is something kind of absurd about people who live in such a comfortable, cushioned, spoiled society tattooing themselves and piercing themselves to make them appear tribal. We're trying to act like we're some sort of tribe that's been discovered in the mall.

Be nice to the British boy. I'm the only ally you have left.

Sometimes doing an old song is like returning to the text of a play. It's not invalid, just because it's old, otherwise nobody would be acting [William Shakespeare]--not to say that everything I do is Shakespeare!. But it's inevitable that it changes its meaning or impact. That's why I never really sing anything from a nostalgic point of view, because even if it's 25 years old, it's in the moment. That's the beauty of live performance.

You can always say it could be better, but if you're not careful with ambition, the next thing you know you're sailing a statue of yourself down the river . . .

[on Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks"] It might be the best record of original thought that anybody's ever made. It's so completely unlike anything that went before it. And the vocal performances are the freest that I think Van ever recorded.