Clive Davis, Record Executive Who Signed Whitney Houston and Bruce Springsteen, Dies at 94

Clive Davis, the record executive who signed Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and Janis Joplin, died Monday in Manhattan at age 94. A family statement said he died of age-related illness surrounded by relatives and loved ones. Davis had been hospitalized earlier in June for an upper respiratory issue before returning home.

Born in Brooklyn in 1932, Davis graduated magna cum laude from New York University in 1953 and earned a law degree from Harvard in 1956. He joined Columbia Records as assistant counsel in 1960 and became president of the label in 1967. At the Monterey International Pop Festival that year he signed Big Brother and the Holding Company, later adding Santana, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Pink Floyd and Springsteen to the Columbia roster.

Davis was fired from Columbia in 1973 after accusations that he had misused $94,000 in company funds; he denied the claims. He founded Arista Records in 1974 and signed Barry Manilow, whose song “Mandy” became the label’s first No. 1 hit.

Aretha Franklin joined Arista in 1980 and Houston signed in 1983 at age 19. Davis later started J Records in 2000 and released Alicia Keys’ debut album. Davis won four competitive Grammy Awards as a producer and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as a non-performer.

His 2013 autobiography, “The Soundtrack of My Life,” reached the New York Times bestseller list, and a 2017 documentary about his career is available on Netflix. Davis revealed he was bisexual at age 80. He is survived by his partner, three sons, one daughter, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

His two marriages ended in divorce.