Presleys in the Press

1. Dwight Icenhower
2. Victor Tornio Jr.
3. Irv Cass
4. Brad Boice
5. Jesse Aron
6. Robert Washington
7. Ted Torres
8. Travis Morris
9. Kevin Mills
10. Matt Joyce

Radio2 DJ Chris Evans hosted the Elvis Forever event, during which fans were treated to some of his best loved songs by artists such as Tom Jones, Craig David and Suzie Quattro.

Priscilla Presley also made an appearance, thanking the British fans who never managed to see their idol play in the UK.

But the evening belonged to the fans, some of whom paid homage in their own way.

But why do so many try to emulate their idol and what makes a fitting tribute? Is it the costume, the hair, the voice?

As one fan put it, "as long as you love his music, that's all you need".

There's the outfit the late entertainer wore to Radio City Music Hall in New York. Decked in pink turkey feathers for that show, Liberace emerged from a giant Faberge-style egg to adulation. Then there are the matching piano and Rolls Royce, each covered in mirrored tiles. And the piano and car covered with crystal rhinestones? "Spectacular," Combs said Sunday. "He liked things in sets."

Since 1979, fans of the larger-than-life pianist, who famously said, "I don't give concerts, I put on a show," have wandered a couple miles off the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada to see vestiges of the wonder that was Liberace.

But not enough came in recent years. The show ends October 17. Dwindling attendance and a shaky economy led to Friday's announcement that the museum will close, officials said. Sixteen full-time workers, including Combs, and seven part-timers will be out of a job, said Combs, who has worked at the museum since 2000.

Most of the items will go into storage until a day when, perhaps, another museum opens. The Liberace Foundation, which operates the museum, will put on a traveling exhibition of many of the items, probably late next year, said Combs. "The traveling exhibit is an exciting way to share the life and legacy of Liberace while providing an income stream for the Foundation," Jeff Koep, chairman of the Liberace Foundation, said in a statement. "In no way do we intend to close the doors and not continue to explore options that will allow us to reopen at a later date."

Liberace, who died at age 67 in 1987, opened the museum on East Tropicana Avenue in 1979. Annual attendance once was about 450,000 and officials touted it as second to Hoover Dam for visitors who stepped out of Las Vegas. But the numbers declined dramatically in recent years, with perhaps 35,000 patrons so far this year, Combs said, adding many visitors to the Strip didn't want to pay cab fare to get to the museum in the Summerlin community.

The museum is in a strip mall that has seen businesses depart, said Combs, who bristles at that those who claim the museum may have been overstaffed. She said the two-building venue required volunteers, too, because of its size and the fact that many of the exhibits are in the open air and needed to be watched.

She points to another factor. "The tourists still support us," the Virginia native said. "I think we were not embraced by the locals here."

Where once the museum sustained itself, in recent years the foundation had to pour money into the museum, Combs said. The non-profit foundation will continue its work of providing scholarships to the performing and creative arts. It has provided nearly $6 million in assistance to 2,700 students.

Born in Wisconsin in 1919, Walter Valentino Liberace came from modest beginnings. "It's a rags-to-riches story," said Combs. The showman was on radio, television, stages around the world and performed for monarchy. A superb pianist, Liberace wore outrageous outfits -- including a white mink cape over a silver costume -- and had a signature candelabra perched on the piano. He influenced many performers, including Elton John and Cher, and reinvented himself, said Combs. As famous as he was in life, Liberace's legacy perhaps has faded a bit over the years. "People like singers," said Combs. "He was a fantastic pianist. He was a wonderful showman."

When he died, no one stepped in to promote his legacy and market merchandise, as they did when Elvis Presley died, Combs said. "If you don't do that immediately, something is going to be lost." ...

The Pontypridd-born singer said the pair became friends and stayed in touch with one another until two years before Presley's death in 1977.

Sir Tom is taking part in a Presley tribute event in London on Sunday.

"I was at Paramount Studios talking about a song for a film, and they said 'Elvis is here and would like to meet you'," said Sir Tom.

"I said 'My God', I didn't know that he knew that I even existed because it was my first year. I went on set and he was there filming and then he stops for a minute and is walking towards me, and I had a ballad out at the time called With These Hands and there comes Elvis Presley singing With These Hands walking towards me, it was like a dream, and I thought 'My God, this is unbelievable'.

"When he got to me he said 'how the hell do you sing like that?' and I said 'Well you're partly to blame'."

He is taking part in Elvis Forever, a concert at Hyde Park on Sunday to commemorate what would have been Presley's 75th year. It will be hosted by Evans and broadcast live on BBC Radio 2.

Sir Tom has been enjoying chart success with his latest studio album, Praise and Blame. His new gospel and blues-inspired album sees him exploring issues of faith, sin and redemption.

Mr. Cagle, who died in his sleep last week at the age of 55 in Tupelo, was also the author of a well-received book, "Reconstructing Pop/Subculture: Art, Rock and Andy Warhol" from Sage Publications.

The book combines a scholarly analysis of trends since the 1960s in art, music and gender issues, with fascinating details about artists and bands like the Velvet Underground and the MC5.

A second project explored the cult of Elvis, with special emphasis on British fans who make pilgrimages to Maui as part of their worship of his film "Blue Hawaii" and choreograph special dance steps for each of Presley's hits.

Mr. Cagle was a tall, elegant man who spoke in a Southern drawl deepened by tobacco. Local rocker Don Gerard, late of the band Moon Seven Times, took a University of Illinois class with Mr. Cagle.

"He looked cool, he sounded cool, every word that came out of him was cool," Gerard said. "His taste in music -- impeccable," said Phil Strang, a former owner of Campustown's Record Service. "Van gave substance and respect to the scene in those days. He was almost like a one-man support system, championing local groups like the Vertebrats, the Outnumbered, Screams, the Elvis Brothers," said Greg Springer of Urbana, a former entertainment writer for the now-defunct Courier as well as the Daily Illini.

"He embodied the joy and enthusiasm and could back it up with an intellectual understanding of the music, its roots and its social impact. He was everybody's friend."

Though he was born in Tupelo, the king's hometown, Cagle said he was late in appreciating Presley.

"I was a victim of the '70s and enjoyed '70s music," Cagle said in a 1995 News-Gazette article, when he was working at the Developmental Services Center. His previous job was cataloging Presley memorabilia for a mammoth auction.

For a boy who grew up in Tupelo, where Elvis was a living god, and soul, gospel and blues music were ubiquitous, Mr. Cagle had limited early ambition to actually make music, his sister says. ...