[8] Giddens' parents are devout Christians and his mother was initially hesitant about his Elvis act because she considered it worldly.
[9] Clearance Giddens's early influences are country and gospel music, specifically Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Roy C.[10][11] His family didn't have a TV, so he only watched it at his uncle's house about once a month.
He remembers being in disbelief in his early teenage years when he first saw Presley dancing and singing on TV since he hadn't ever heard a white singer with so much soul before.
[12][13] He recalls hiding in the closet to listen to Elvis because his strict Christian mother did not allow rock and roll in the house.
[17] Giddens' Black Elvis performance attracted international media attention, and reporters noted his talent and "raw dynamism".
[18] For his first national TV spot, he faced his fear of flying to attend The Arsenio Hall Show in California but was so exhausted upon arriving that he slept through his performance.
Shortly after waking up that evening, he answered a knock at his hotel room from Entertainment Tonight staff, who asked him to be on the show.
[18] He continued to receive TV appearance invites, and he performed for various programs including Hard Copy, Inside Edition, Viva Elvis weekend,[19] and the Howard Stern Show.
[20] A Hollywood casting director reached out about a film role that involved parachuting out of a plane with other Elvis impersonators as part of a recurring joke in the 1992 romantic comedy Honeymoon in Vegas, which starred Nicolas Cage, James Caan, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Clearance Giddens continued his Black Elvis career on a smaller scale, with Italian restaurant owner Franco Nocera booking shows and a keyboard player named Snowflake providing backup.