Clive Davis, the record executive who discovered and shaped the careers of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and dozens of other artists over six decades, died June 22 at his home in Manhattan, his family said. He was 94.
“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives,” his family said 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 centre of our lives, the source of wisdom, strength, encouragement, and unconditional love.”
Davis had recently been hospitalized with respiratory problems and was recovering at home when he died, according to his family.
Born in Brooklyn on April 4, 1932, Davis grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood. He graduated from Harvard Law School and had no formal knowledge of the music business when he took a job at Columbia Records at age 28. To compensate, he took night classes in copyright law, contracts and litigation.
His legal training proved immediately valuable. Davis helped defeat a federal antitrust suit over Columbia’s mail-order record club and persuaded Bob Dylan to remain with the label after Dylan’s original contract became void when he turned 21. He was promoted to vice president in 1965 and became president shortly after. Among the acts he signed in that era were Santana, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen, giving Columbia a new lease of life.
“I didn’t necessarily have an ear, but I think I developed one,” Davis later said. “Whether there was a natural ear that was triggered, I don’t know the answer to that. But when you see a Joplin or a Springsteen, you know.”
Davis’s editorial instincts could ruffle feathers. After a playback of Simon & Garfunkel’s fifth album in 1970, he told the “aghast” artists that “Cecilia” should not be the first single. “I felt Cecilia would be a hit but ‘Bridge [Over Troubled Water]’ was something more,” he later told Simon’s biographer. “Yes, it was a ballad; yes, it was lengthy. But you’ve got to know when you have a home run. You can’t play everything by the rules.”
Two years later, Davis offered early career advice to Bruce Springsteen, who had signed to Columbia for $25,000. Watching the musician perform, Davis noted that Springsteen rarely stepped away from the microphone. “Don’t do it if it’s not natural for you, but I know that the potential of the songs would lend itself to more physical movement on your part,” Davis recalled telling Springsteen. Weeks later, he watched Springsteen at a Greenwich club and was stunned: “He jumped on every table… He was a whirling dervish. It was not just the movement, it was the spirit of it. It was electrifying.” Backstage, Springsteen looked up and asked, “Clive, did I move around enough for you tonight?”
Despite his success, Davis was ousted from Columbia after the company accused him of using corporate funds for personal expenses, including his son’s bar mitzvah. He was charged with six counts of tax evasion, pleaded guilty to one count and was otherwise exonerated.
Within months, Davis launched his own label, Arista Records. He immediately achieved commercial success by signing Barry Manilow and critical acclaim by releasing Patti Smith’s influential debut album, “Horses.”
In 1983, Davis signed Whitney Houston when she was 19, then spent years searching for producers and writers to match her voice. Her self-titled debut album, released in 1985, produced three U.S. No. 1 singles and sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, according to Sony. Davis later insisted that Houston’s cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” should begin with a 40-second a cappella passage, over the objections of producer David Foster. The song became Houston’s biggest hit, topping the U.S. singles chart for 14 weeks and the U.K. chart for 10.
Davis also revived the career of Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana with the 1999 album “Supernatural.” He persuaded Santana to record duets with contemporary vocalists including Lauryn Hill, Rob Thomas and Eagle-Eye Cherry. The album sold more than 15 million copies and won a Grammy for Album of the Year, powered by the global hit “Smooth.”
Across his career, Davis worked at Columbia, Arista, RCA, Sony and J Records. He won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 2000.
Speaking in 2016, Davis reflected on the secret to his longevity: “Music is a necessary ingredient in people’s lives. No matter what revolution is occurring in technology, it has to understand that music will not be obsoleted. People need music, and they’ve needed it for many years in many different ways; whether you go back to church traditions or other traditions in life. It’s a very, very natural basic ingredient that’s essential to the full enjoyment of life.”