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Clive Jay Davis is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and executive. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-60s. He has helped a who's who of musicians obtain great fame and fortune over the decades. He is 92 years old (April 4, 1932) and was born in New York City.

Davis grew up in Brooklyn. He moved to Queens with his older sister after his parents died when he was a teenager. He earned a full scholarship to college. He graduated magna cum laude from New York University with a degree in political science. He earned a doctor of jurisprudence from Harvard Law School in 1956.

Davis worked at a law firm in New York City where he started working with Columbia Records as outside counsel. He became the general manager of Columbia in 1965. The next year he headed a new combined unit called CBS Records. He spotted and signed talents such as Tony Orlando and Barry Manilow early on.

Davis had much success in the late '60s and early '70s singing such acts as Earth Wind & Fire, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Chicago, Bruce Springsteen, Santana, and Janis Joplin.

Davis was fired from CBS Records for a relatively minor misappropriation of company money. In 1974, he founded a new company, Arista Records. Some of his prior acts followed and he continued to sign new top talent. Artists with Arista included Dionne Warwick, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Aretha Franklin, Air Supply, and, Grateful Dead. In the late 80s, Arista Nashville was founded and signed country artists like Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, and Brad Paisley.

In the early 80s, Davis took notice of famed singer Cissy Houston's daughter Whitney. She was 19 when he saw her sing The Greatest Love of All at Sweetwater's Club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 1983. Arista released her eponymous debut album in 1985. It topped the charts in the US and worldwide and set Whitney Houston (pictured in 1989) on her way to superstardom. He developed a close personal (but not romantic) relationship with her until her untimely death in 2012. He co-produced a 2022 biopic Whitney Houston: I Want to Dance with Somebody. He was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the film. The film received mixed reviews.

In 1999, Davis co-produced the album Supernatural by Santana. The album was a smash hit worldwide and sold 30 million copies. The album won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. He left Arista in 2000. He would later hold top-level positions at J Records (founder) RCA Music Group and Sony Music Group. He won a Grammy Awards for producing albums by American Idol albums Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson in 2005 and 2008 respectively. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 2000.

Davis authored The Soundtrack of My Life in 2013 with mostly excellent reviews. It made news for relieving his bi-sexuality. A documentary of the same name based on the book was released in 2017.

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music was created in 2003 as part of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Davis has two children with Helen Cohen. They married in 1956 and divorced in 1965. He has two children with Janet Adelberg. They married in 1965 and divorced in 1985. Their youngest son, Doug, followed in his father's footsteps as a lawyer and music producer and has won four Grammy Awards. The elder Davis primarily lives in Midtown Manhattan.

Living Legend Bios

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