Elvis Costello defends Olivia Rodrigo against plagiarism claim
Elvis Costello has defended Olivia Rodrigo against a claim she has plagiarised the rock musician’s work.
Rodrigo has recently been accused of copying the cover art of Hole’s album ‘Live Through This’ to promote her forthcoming ‘Sour Prom’ livestream event. Courtney Love said she told Rodrigo “I await her flowers [and] note”.
“My cover was my original idea. A thing you maybe have to actually live life to acquire? I don’t know. Anyway. Disney? Yes, it’s rude,” Love wrote on Facebook.
Now, in response to a Twitter user claiming Rodrigo’s song ‘Brutal’ is “pretty much a direct lift from Elvis Costello”, the artist said “this is fine by me”. The user is presumably referring to the similarity between the guitar riff on ‘Brutal’ and that of Costello’s ‘Pump It Up’.
“It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did.”
This is fine by me, Billy.
It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did. #subterreaneanhomesickblues #toomuchmonkeybusiness— Elvis Costello (@ElvisCostello) June 28, 2021
He then made references to ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ by Bob Dylan, which inspired Costello’s ‘Pump It Up’, and Chuck Berry’s ‘Too Much Monkey Business’, which influenced Dylan’s song.
Rodrigo released her debut album, ‘Sour’, back in May through Polydor/Geffen, featuring the singles ‘Drivers License’, ‘Deja Vu’ and ‘Good 4 U’.
In a four-star review, NME labelled the record “an almost-masterpiece that’s equal parts confident, cool and exhilaratingly real”, calling Rodrigo “[an artist] we’ll be living with for years to come”.
