Clive Davis, Hitmaking Titan of the Music Industry, Dies at 94

Clive Davis, the music executive who rose from a midlevel legal position at Columbia Records to become one of the industry’s most powerful and longest-reigning dons, guiding the careers of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow and dozens of other stars, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan.He was 94.His family confirmed the death.

Mr.Davis had recently been hospitalized with respiratory problems.One of the few nonperformers in music to become a household name, Mr.

Davis maintained a visible role as a starmaker for half a century.In the late 1960s he propelled a reluctant Columbia headlong into the rock era with acts like Janis Joplin and Blood, Sweat & Tears.

He also encouraged the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis to connect with the Woodstock generation.Later, at the Arista and J labels, he championed R&B-leaning pop divas like Ms.Houston, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson; seized on the commercial potential for hip-hop; and orchestrated major career revivals for Carlos Santana and Rod Stewart, with albums selling in the millions.In 2021, when Mr.

Davis was 89, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York called on him to book a “homecoming” concert in Central Park to celebrate the city’s reopening after the shutdown of entertainment by the coronavirus pandemic.(A lightning storm canceled the show midway, before planned appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon.)For the public that saw him on television or in magazines, Mr.

Davis was a mellow, dandyish eminence, seldom pictured in anything but a brightly accessorized suit.He spoke with an accent that hinted at European refinement, although his middle-class Brooklyn origins shone through when he referred, with affection, to “Arether.”In the music industry, Mr.

Davis, whose last position was chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment, was known as a relentless pursuer of hits, and as a symbol of continuity whose career survived numerous setbacks and corporate leadership sweeps.We are ...