A large collection of superstars, powerful music executives and other friends and family came together for Clive Davis’ funeral in New York on Monday morning, remembering Davis in emotional tributes as a music obsessive and champion of artists who architected the modern record business.
Many of the biggest artists most synonymous with Clive Davis’ career — Dionne Warwick, Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow, Jennifer Hudson, Kenny G and Alicia Keys — all honored the mogul a week after he died at the age of 94. Kenny G opened the funeral, which took place at Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan, playing a clarinet solo, while during the middle of the service, Hudson sang covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” The rest of the musicians gave emotional eulogies.
Dionne Warwick, who was the first speaker after Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” recalling Clive Davis’ family saying it was a song he wished he produced. Warwick recalled how Clive Davis had pursued her while she was between record deals, while she was considering leaving the record industry altogether.
“You may be willing to give the business up, but the business isn’t willing to give you up,” she remembered Clive Davis saying. She then made an acronym out of Clive Davis’ full name, saying “Clive” itself stood for “Completely loyal, incredibly valuable and everlasting.”
