Elvis Costello jokes he’s "really in show business" after his Grammy Award nomination.
The 65-year-old musician has opened up about his latest record ‘Look Now’ being shortlisted in the revamped traditional pop vocal album category, which has been expanded to include collections "that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music".
Speaking to Billboard, he quipped: "I think all of those definitions are a little bit silly. Sometimes you get shoved into unlikely places…
"I’m nominated with Barbra Streisand and, I understand, the sexiest man in the world [People’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive John Legend] and Michael Bublé and Andrea Bocelli.
"When I saw that list, I said, ‘Well now I’m really in show business, aren’t I?’ Of course, it’s great fun to be in that kind of contest. It makes me feel like I’m Neil Diamond in 1973 or something and I’m in a race with John Denver and Leo Sayer.
"I write songs and I’m quite happy to be in that company… All of the other artists in this category are way more high-profile in terms of sales than I am."
The ‘I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down’ singer admitted he didn’t actually realise he was entered into the running for the traditional pop prize until the nomination was revealed.
He explained: "My phone started going around 6 a.m. [on Nov. 20, the day the nominations were announced]. By the time I got myself a cup of coffee, I had all these people saying ‘Hey congratulations.’
"For what? I didn’t even know the nominations were coming out, much less that I could be in them.
"These labels are often very silly. [Even so,] You have to make some distinction between the contemporary pop releases of new artists–there are some really good new artists that have put records out–and [our albums]."
Elvis Costello jokes he’s ‘in show business’ after Grammys nomination
