YEAR
2003
INDUCTED BY
Elton John
CATEGORY
Performers
Elvis Costello took the literacy of folk music and broke it wide open against the ragged edges of punk.
He was one of the best and most consistent songwriters of his generation, but he never used that as an excuse to get repetitive—Elvis Costello has experimented with everything from punk to opera.
Bruce Thomas
Elvis Costello
Pete Thomas
Steve Nieve
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Ashley Kahn
In some ways, 1977 is almost ancient history now, back when a skinny-tied, gap-toothed, Fender-banging Buddy Holly look-alike from England formed a band, called it the Attractions and dared to name himself after the King of Rock & Roll.
At first, Elvis Costello seemed a part of punk’s spit and audacity, his music spinning aggression into slashing riffs with lyrics that became slogans of the season. “I’m not angry – anymore,” he claimed through clenched teeth. “Everything,” he charged, “means less than zero.” “My aim,” he promised in the title of his debut album, “is true.”
