The late record executive impacted the careers of many stars, including Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Santana, Aerosmith, Chicago and more.
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Clive Davis attends the 68th GRAMMY Awards Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman at The Beverly Hilton on Jan. 31, 2026, in Beverly Hills.
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Legendary label executive Clive Davis was known in the music business as the man with the “golden ears.” While some suits shy away from involvement in the creative side of music making, Davis, who passed away on Monday (June 22) at the age of 94, relished the opportunity to help artists he signed achieve their biggest hits. Over the course of his decades-long career in the record business, beginning in the 1960s as an in-house lawyer for Columbia Records, Davis had a hand in developing the careers and songs of iconic talents like Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson and many more. He also took veteran acts like Santana and Aretha Franklin and helped them launch into extremely popular second acts in their careers.
