![\"Elvis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Elvis-Presley-Elvis-Costello-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Paramount Pictures \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Thu 11 December 2025 1:00, UK <\/p>\n
Emerging during the instantaneous domination of punk rock in England, Elvis Costello<\/a> was a secret walking encyclopedia of music, keeping his immense knowledge of music history close to his chest.<\/p>\n A young Costello was blessed with a wide-ranging musical education from a young age. His father, Ross, a professional trumpet player and singer, followed in his own father, Patrick\u2019s, footsteps. Born with an ear for music, Costello\u2019s parents raised him in a home with a constant soundtrack and, even after they divorced, their son\u2019s music education never faltered. His father\u2019s encouragement was to give his young son five or six of the day\u2019s current pop hit records a week, amassing an enviable collection while he was still in primary school.<\/p>\n Before he was even known as \u201cElvis Costello\u201d, he performed under his birth name, Declan MacManus, playing with fellow folk-rockers in the Liverpool music scene. His ambitions<\/a> became too big for his home, and he relocated to London, adopting his father\u2019s own alias, Costello, when approaching club bookers, because it was easier to spell and understand compared to MacManus. Soon, as his career took various turns, he found himself signed to a label and preparing for stardom \u2013 with one small catch.<\/p>\n It would be safe to assume that Costello adopted Elvis Presley<\/a>\u2019s name out of sheer admiration, a devotion to the King and a way of channelling his musicality. But the reality was, it wasn\u2019t Costello\u2019s choice. When he signed to Stiff Records in 1976, its founders, Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson, became his managers and concocted a new image for him. They traded his rimless eyeglasses, intended to correct Costello\u2019s astigmatism, for a pair of large black frames, placing him intentionally outside of the \u201cpop star\u201d mould. <\/p>\n His stage name would now be Elvis, chosen solely for its attention-grabbing value. Presley was still alive at the time, and Costello\u2019s association with his name would surely gain him some traction. Costello claimed to be impartial to Presley\u2019s music and did not think twice about his sudden name change; he\u2019d seen his father, Ross, adopt a variety of monikers in his youth, and assumed it to be par for the course. At least he would be able to keep Costello.<\/p>\n