Clive Davis, music executive and champion of legendary pop artists, has died at 94

Clive Davis, a record executive who helped to launch the careers of many stars over a career that lasted decades, has died.His death was confirmed in a statement by his family posted to his official social media accounts.

He was 94 years old."To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives," the statement reads."He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations." It did not specify the cause of death.Davis began his career as a lawyer before pivoting into the major-label record business.

While leading record companies like Columbia Records and Arista, Davis was instrumental in shepherding the successful careers of a number of monumental music stars, including Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston.Through Arista's part ownership of labels like LaFace and Bad Boy Records, Davis also played a role in the growth of hip-hop and R&B through the '90s and 2000s, when artists like Usher, Outkast, Toni Braxton, the Notorious B.I.G.

and Sean Combs became stars.Most recently, he was the chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment.Davis was a native of the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, born in that city on April 4, 1932 to Herman, an electrician and salesman, and Florence Davis.

While Clive was still a freshman at New York University, which he attended on a scholarship and would later graduate from magna cum laude, he lost both parents to what he later described as complications resulting from high blood pressure.Davis, a destitute undergrad at the time, was forced to move in with his sister while finishing his degree.After graduating from Harvard Law with honors in 1956, Davis went to work as a Midtown Manhattan lawyer, drafting and reviewing contracts and assisting with tax and estate planning.

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