Legendary Music Executive Dead at 94

Clive Davis, the legendary music executive who shepherded the careers of such stars as Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow and Alicia Keys, died on Monday (June 22) at his home in New York from age-related illness. He was 94.

Davis rose to prominence while serving as president of Columbia Records from 1967 to 1973, before founding his own label, Arista, where he signed Manilow and stars including Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith and Dionne Warwick, among many others. In 2000, he founded J Records, which was responsible for launching acts including Keys and Maroon 5 to superstardom.

Known as “The Man With the Golden Ears,” Davis became an industry icon for helping shape the popular sound of genres including pop, rock, R&B and hip-hop during a career that spanned more than 60 years. In the process, he signed, mentored and/or worked closely with such legendary artists as Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Alan Jackson, Luther Vandross, Kenny G, Usher, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, Rod Stewart and Jennifer Hudson. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and received a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy in 2000.

“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives,” said the Davis family in a statement. “He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations.

“To his family, Clive was Dad and Granddaddy, the steady presence at the center of our lives, the source of wisdom, strength, encouragement, and unconditional love. No matter how extraordinary his professional accomplishments, he never lost sight of what mattered most: the people he loved.

“Through every chapter of his remarkable life, family remained Clive’s greatest pride and deepest joy. Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives.”

Davis was born in Brooklyn on April 4, 1932, to Herman and Florence Davis, the former of whom worked as an electrician and a salesman. Though Davis went on to outlive most of his peers, his parents died while he was still a teenager, leading him to move in with his older sister, Seena, in Queens. In college, Davis attended New York University, from which he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in political science. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1956, he began his music business career in the legal department of Columbia Records at age 28. In 1967, he rose to president of Columbia’s parent company CBS Records, where he signed Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company after seeing them perform at the Monterey International Pop Festival. While at CBS, Davis demonstrated a knack for signing other future stars, including Santana, Billy Joel and Aerosmith.

After his firing from CBS Records in 1973 after being accused of misappropriating company funds, which he denied, Davis formed his own label, Arista Records, where he worked with artists as diverse as Manilow and Patti Smith. Manilow had Arista’s first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, “Mandy,” in 1975. That same year, Davis plucked Patti Smith from relative obscurity to release her hugely influential and successful 1975 debut album Horses. During that period, he continued to show a rare instinct for understanding what would resonate with the public. He also helped engineer comebacks for a number of older stars whose careers had lost some of their shimmer, from Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick to Santana, whose 1999 collaborative album Supernatural went multi-platinum and scored a total of nine Grammy wins, including album of the year. Including his Grammy win for that album, Davis won four Grammys during his lifetime out of five nominations.

Davis’ biggest success at Artista came when he signed Whitney Houston, the younger cousin of Arista artist Dionne Warwick. On the release of her 1985 self-titled debut album, Houston shot to fame with a trio of No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, including “How Will I Know,” “Saving All My Love for You” and “Greatest Love of All.” Houston went on to become one of the best-selling artists of all time, notching a total of 11 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 during the course of a career that was cut short with her death in 2012. Following her untimely passing, Davis delivered a eulogy that began, “You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all, well it takes your breath away.”

Despite being in his late 60s when he departed Arista at the turn of the millennium, Davis wasn’t content to slow down. In 2000, he launched another successful venture with J Records, which he dubbed “an instant major,” though it was an independent label that scored backing from Arista’s parent company Bertelsmann Music Group and was distributed through RCA. There, Davis launched another generational talent, Alicia Keys, whose debut album, 2001’s Songs in A Minor, included the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Fallin’” and was eventually certified seven-times platinum by the RIAA.

In 2002, after BMG purchased a majority stake in J Records, Davis was named president and CEO of RCA Music Group. He remained in that role until 2008, when, at age 76, he was named chief creative officer at Sony BMG, and, later, chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment, a title he held until his death. He published an autobiography, The Soundtrack of My Life, in 2013.

Outside of music, Davis became known for his humanitarian efforts, including his work battling the AIDS epidemic beginning in the mid-1980s. Raising millions in donations to AIDS charities over the years, in 1990, he notably turned Arista’s 15th anniversary concert in 1990 into a benefit to fight the disease. Over the course of his life, he was bestowed with numerous awards recognizing his philanthropy, including humanitarian of the year from the T.J. Martell Foundation and the humanitarian award from the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR). His annual pre-Grammy gala, one of the most coveted invites during Grammy week, has served as a fundraiser for causes including The Recording Academy’s MusiCares nonprofit and the Grammy Museum.

In 2011, Davis’ alma mater, New York University, awarded him an honorary PhD of Fine Arts. That same year, Davis made a gift of $5 million to the university, which subsequently dubbed its department of recorded music the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in his honor.

Davis is survived by his partner, Greg Schriefer; sons Fred, Doug and Mitchell; daughter Lauren; eight grandchildren, Austin, Charlie, Matthew, Hayley, Harper, Sloane, Billie and Cody; two great grandchildren; and cousin Jo Schuman.