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When singer Shawn Klush steps into his Elvis tribute persona to entertain audiences, he says his authentic costumes are an added reason for the applause he earns around the world.

“There is one stage costume Elvis wore in 1973 called the Topaz Stone Jumpsuit, and the replica I wear has the exact stones and beading, which means it weighs every bit of 40 pounds at least,” Klush said.

Presley and his stillborn twin brother Jesse were born Jan. 8, 1935, and the date ranks as an official holiday for fans of the rock icon. The year 2022 marks the 45th anniverarsy since Presley’s August 1977 passing and he’s still worshipped by a loyal legion who continue to help The King rank second on the Forbes’ ‘list of highest-paid dead celebrities’ with his $39 million annual earnings, only second to King of Pop Michael Jackson’s at $60 million a year.

Klush is paying homage to Presley on his birthday in 2022 headlining concerts Jan. 7 at Coronado Performing Arts Center in Rockford, Illinois, and Jan. 8 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.

The concerts include other Elvis tribute artists sharing the billing, such as Ryan Pelton and Cody Ray Slaughter, as well as performances by the Blackwood Quartet, The Nashville Dreams and The Fabulous Ambassadors.

Klush, who has been performing as Elvis for 25 years, has the distinction of being named Elvis Presley Enterprises’ “First Ever Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist,” and hailed by BBC1 television as the “World’s Greatest Elvis,” with his billing proclaiming him as “The Closest Thing to the King in Concert.”

“Before Christmas and the holidays, I toured the United Kingdom with concerts and also performed in South America before an audience of 12,000 in Chile,” said Klush, who has been interviewed by David Letterman and played Presley in the hit CBS television miniseries “Shake, Rattle and Roll” in 1999.

“I base my performance on the Elvis of 1970 from when he appeared in the musical documentary ‘That’s the Way It Is,” said Klush, born and raised in the small coal-mining town of Pittston, Pennsylvania, where he was back home during the Christmas holiday for time with family.

“This career started after I performed my Elvis impersonation to enter and win the $5,000 prize in the Worldwide Elvis Competition in Montreal, which caught the attention of the long-running Las Vegas show ‘Legends in Concert,’ where I starred as Elvis in their Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Branson and Atlantic City showrooms.”

He said he looks forward to the annual January Elvis birthday tribute concerts, which have previously sold out in Hammond.

On Elvis’ 70th Birthday, Klush was named grand champion with a $25,000 first prize in the World Elvis Tribute Artist Competition.

“The costumes I wear are recreations custom-made by the same designers who made the original pieces,” said Klush, who was named Worldwide Ambassador of Elvis at the Las Vegas Hilton where he headlines the annual the Las Vegas Elvis Fest, celebrating Presley’s longtime Las Vegas stage home.

“I love audiences when I’m doing TV and film work, but there’s something extra special about a concert on stage with the energy of a live performance audience,” Klush said.

“We had 8 million viewers when I was on CBS doing David Letterman’s TV show, but it’s still not the same as having fans in a concert space,’ he said.

When not wearing his Elvis cape, Klush sports vampire fangs for his latest small screen TV project as a cast member of “What We Do in the Shadows,” streaming on Hulu, which is also in the midst of the fourth season on FX. The comedy series follows the lives of four vampires who have been roommates living in New York together for centuries.

“If you’ve never been fitted for a pair of custom vampire fangs by a TV makeup and wardrobe department, man, you’re lucky,” Klush lamented.

“It’s not fun at all. I wouldn’t want to sing in them.”

When: 8 p.m. Jan. 7 and 8, 2022

Where: Jan. 7, 2022, at Coronado Performing Arts Center, 314 N. Main St. Rockford, Illinois, and Jan. 8, 2022, at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, 777 Casino Center Dr., Hammond

Information: 815-968-5222 or 866-711-7463; coronadopac.org or caesars.com/horseshoe-hammond/shows

Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.