Legendary music executive Clive Davis died on Monday at his home in New York City. As one of the industry’s most influential figures, serving as a producer, A&R man, and label president over the course of his career, Davis directly shaped numerous genres, and signed and worked with a seemingly endless list of artists, including Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Aerosmith, Santana, Pink Floyd, and Patti Smith. His death was confirmed by his publicist, who stated Davis “passed away peacefully from age-related illness … surrounded by his family and loved ones.” He was 94.
Born in Brooklyn in 1932, Davis earned his law degree from Harvard in 1956, and joined CBS affiliate Columbia Records in 1960 at the age of 28. Within seven years, he rose to become president and began signing influential artists including Joplin (of Big Brother and the Holding Company), Earth, Wind & Fire, Aerosmith, and Springsteen, among many others. Davis would go on to form several labels: Arista in 1974, Bad Boy in 1994 (with Sean Combs), and J Records in 2000. At each one, he continued the practices he had implemented at Columbia by signing, to name a few, Whitney Houston, Patti Smith, Barry Manilow, Notorious B.I.G., Sarah McLachlan, and Alicia Keys, and revitalizing the careers of Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, the Grateful Dead, and more. Davis’ last position was Chief Creative Officer at Sony Music.
Davis was also a Grammy Awards mainstay. In addition to winning five Grammys as producer—including Best Album and Best Rock Album for Santana’s 1999 LP Supernatural, and Best Pop Vocal Album for Kelly Clarkson’s 2006 LP Breakaway—he also hosted an annual dinner the evening before the ceremony, known as the Pre-Grammy Gala. In 2000, Davis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. That same year, Davis helped create the Department of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2011, he helped turn it into the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. The program was the first of its kind, offering four-year degrees to students interested in careers working in the music industry as artists and executives. He was the subject of a documentary, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, based on his autobiography by the same name.
In a statement, Patti Smith thanked Davis for “transforming music, and on a very personal note, for believing in me, shepherding my efforts and a half century of your love and support.”
Springsteen has also paid tribute to Davis, writing on Instagram, “He treated me with the same respect and kindness as a 22-year-old nobody as he did after all my success. A great man.”
Davis is survived by two sons, one daughter, eight grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and his partner, Greg Schriefer.
