Elvis Costello shares why he did not sue Olivia Rodrigo: ‘Did Bob Dylan sue me?’

Elvis Costello has shared the reason he did not sue Olivia Rodrigo over her song Brutal using the same riff as Pump it Up.

The Sour track from Rodrigo was released back in 2021, and many observed at the time how familiar the guitar riff sounded. Some detractors believed Costello had a case to sue the hitmaker, who recently headlined Primavera Sound 2026 alongside The Cure and Gorillaz. But Costello opted not to take legal action against Rodrigo, supporting the chart-topping sensation at a time when her detractors were egging the Shipbuilding songwriter to sue.

Costello told The Times: “That’s too silly to talk about. Well, I met Olivia and she was lovely. I said, ‘Look, this is just a riff,’ and how could I be arrogant enough to sue on the basis of originality when my song is based on Subterranean Homesick Blues? Did Bob Dylan sue me? He teased me about it but didn’t sue. And did Chuck Berry sue Bob because his song was like Too Much Monkey Business?”

Dylan did not sue Costello, and instead, the pair would appear on stage together occasionally in the 1990s. Dylan had also pitched Costello a studio album collaboration that caught the Radio Radio hitmaker by surprise.

Costello, speaking with MOJO Magazine, said: “I did forty-five minutes just on my guitar. I’d see Bob now and again backstage and he suddenly asked me to come up at soundcheck. ‘I’ve been thinking about how to get you into the act,’ were his exact words. And I said, ‘Great, whatever you like.’ And he said, ‘I was thinking maybe we could do that song, Peace, Love and Understanding.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s great, except I didn’t write it.’

“And so we did Tears of Rage. And then I’m expecting, ‘Well, maybe that’ll be in the show tonight. The show was great and I didn’t get the call. A few days went by, and then a week went by, and we’re still on the road. And I’d given up. And in St Louis, I was just probably getting a cup of coffee and suddenly his production manager comes flying in and goes, ‘Boss wants you up there.’ And he’d decided to do the song just the two of us.

“And I came in singing it. He didn’t sing! He let me sing the whole first verse on my own. And I felt so exposed, y’know. Eventually he came in and we did the harmony. And then in the second verse, I sang the opening line. he sang the second line, and it wasn’t a line that was in any version of the song I knew, and it didn’t rhyme with my next line! I don’t even remember what noise I made, but it was one of panic.”

Despite the waiting around and lyrical change, Costello has fond memories of the performance, and particularly what happened afterwards. He added: “It’s one of my favourite things that ever happened. It was so chaotic. As we came off the stage, he said, ‘Yeah, you sing loud. We should do a record of Johnnie and Jack songs.’ I walked away with his manager and I said, ‘That’s never going to happen, right?'”