Editing Elvis Costello (section)

=== 1979 Columbus incident ===

In March 1979, during a drunken argument with [[Bonnie Bramlett]] and other members of the [[Stephen Stills]] band, at a [[Holiday Inn]] bar in [[Columbus, Ohio]], Costello referred to [[James Brown]] as a "jive-ass [[nigger]]",{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} then pronounced [[Ray Charles]] a "blind, ignorant nigger".<ref>{{cite book |first=Greil |last=Marcus |title=In The Fascist Bathroom |year=1993 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |isbn=0-14-014940-6 |page=229}}</ref> At a New York City press conference a few days later, Costello said he had been drunk and had been attempting to be obnoxious to bring the conversation to a swift conclusion, not anticipating that Bramlett would bring his comments to the press. According to Costello, "It became necessary for me to outrage these people with about the most obnoxious and offensive remarks that I could muster".

In his liner notes for the expanded version of ''[[Get Happy!! (Elvis Costello album)|Get Happy!!]]'' Costello writes that some time after the incident he had declined an offer to meet Charles out of guilt and embarrassment, although Charles himself had forgiven Costello, saying "Drunken talk isn't meant to be printed in the paper". Costello worked extensively in Britain's [[Rock Against Racism]] campaign both before and after the incident. In an interview with [[Questlove]] (drummer for [[the Roots]], with whom Costello collaborated in 2013), he stated: "It's upsetting because I can't explain how I even got to think you could be funny about something like that" and further elaborating with, "I'm sorry. You know? It's about time I said it out loud."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Courtney E. |title=Elvis Costello Opens Up About 1979 Racial Slurs in Interview With ?uestlove |url=http://radio.com/2013/10/17/elvis-costello-opens-up-about-1979-racial-slurs-in-interview-with-uestlove/ |website=Radio.com |access-date=10 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916121400/http://radio.com/2013/10/17/elvis-costello-opens-up-about-1979-racial-slurs-in-interview-with-uestlove/ |archive-date=16 September 2015 }}</ref>