Influential Jewish rock-and-roll executive Clive Davis dies at 94

Clive Davis, the record company lawyer who became one of the music industry’s most powerful figures, launching or resurrecting the careers of such superstars as Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana and Alicia Keys, has died, his family confirmed. He was 94.

Davis died in his Manhattan apartment, weeks after being hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue, his publicist Aliza Rabinoff said.

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

Many artists mourned his passing on Monday. Carlos Santana called him “a visionary.” Michael Bublé said the music executive “believed in people and their dreams.” Patti Smith thanked Davis for a half century of “love and support.”

Unlike other record moguls whose influence waned as they got older, Davis’s might only seemed to grow, spanning multiple genres and labels. Into his later years, he was directing the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to “American Idol” winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. And his exclusive pre-Grammys gala, held the Saturday night before the Sunday award show every year since 1975, continued to be an institution.

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Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, where he grew up in a Jewish family in the Crown Heights neighborhood. His father was an electrician and traveling salesman. He attended New York University and then Harvard Law School, eventually landing a job as an in-house lawyer at Columbia Records.

Davis always had a knack for business, and by 1967, became president of the company, just seven years after being hired as an attorney. He took big swings in the music industry, particularly in his support for Black artists, beginning when he signed Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records in 1971.

During his run as the head of CBS Records, Davis signed some of the biggest and most influential acts in rock-and-roll history, including Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.

But it nearly all came crashing down in 1973, after he allegedly siphoned some money from his label to pay for his son’s bar mitzvah.

The incident cost Davis his job as a leading tastemaker of the music industry at the height of a transformative moment. To make sure he got the message, CBS filed a civil suit against Davis for misappropriation of funds — in which they specified he’d skimmed “at least” $20,000 for the simcha celebration for his son Fred. (Other misuses of funds, including renovating his apartment, were also alleged.)

Davis three years later pleaded guilty to failing to pay $2,700 on the expenses. Then he bounced back. In his second act, he founded Arista Records, named after the New York City public school system honor society to which the Brooklyn native and Harvard Law graduate had belonged.

There he continued his talent for talent spotting, signing Aretha Franklin, bringing in the Grateful Dead and discovering a 19-year-old Whitney Houston. And CBS bought into the new label, setting aside years of bitterness.

Davis remained active in music for decades, helping to launch the career of the first “American Idol” breakout star, Kelly Clarkson, and helping launch Bad Boy Records, which shepherded acts like The Notorious B.I.G.

He was known for his unerring ear, frequently more in tune with the times than the artists he promoted. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, the Jewish folk rock duo, wanted to release the jaunty, sexy and concise “Cecilia” as the first single off their 1970 album, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Davis insisted on the title track, defying the pair’s claims that it was too long, too sentimental and too slow in building up to a climax. The single sold an astonishing 8 million copies, and won the best song and best record Grammys, an anxiety-imbued paean that became an emblem of the era.

He also pressed Barry Manilow, the Jewish balladeer, to record “I Write the Songs” in 1975; Manilow, a prolific songwriter, resisted because this was one song he did not write. (Beach Boy Bruce Johnston had written the song.) Manilow’s soaring, sappy take reached the top spot on the Billboard charts.

“It is so important to have people smarts,” Davis told Billboard in one of his final interviews. Quoting advice he said he received from his mother, he continued, “You’ve got to get out there with people. You’ve got to learn from all walks of life, all races, all colors.”

Davis, twice married and divorced, came out as bisexual in 2013 in his well received autobiography, “The Soundtrack of my Life.”

“On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures,” he wrote about a sexual encounter with a man during the what he called “era of Studio 54,” the late 1970s, a time known for its promiscuity. “After my second marriage failed, I met a man who was also grounded in music. Having only had loving relationships and sexual intimacy with women, I opened myself up to the possibility that I could have that with a male, and found that I could.”

Davis, who didn’t often speak about his Judaism publicly, was moved to speak out after the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly Hamas attacks on Israel. He noted that many of the victims had been attending a music festival.

“I have made it my mission in life to fight for equality and human rights — advocating for those who do not have a voice in music and elsewhere,” he said. “You cannot be silent about antisemitism, or hate or discrimination of any kind.”

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