Bruce Springsteen leads tributes to music executive Clive Davis after death

Clive Davis spent more than six decades deciding which voices would reach the center of American music, and Bruce Springsteen’s tribute captured why so many artists saw him as both gatekeeper and ally. Davis died Monday at age 94 in Manhattan of age-related illness, surrounded by family and loved ones, after being hospitalized earlier in 2026 for an upper respiratory issue.

His career began inside the institution he would later help define. Davis joined Columbia Records as assistant counsel in 1960, became president of Columbia Records in 1967, left in 1973 and founded Arista Records in 1974. He later worked at J Records and remained a powerful presence in the business well into his 80s, navigating a music industry that changed from radio dominance to the digital era without losing his reputation for identifying talent early.

Springsteen said Davis signed him at 22 and treated him “with the same respect and kindness as a 22-year-old nobody as he did after all my success.” That instinct to see artists before the world did became Davis’s calling card. He helped launch or revive the careers of Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Patti Smith and Simon & Garfunkel, making his influence felt across rock, pop and soul.

The immediate reaction to his death reflected the depth of those relationships. Barry Manilow said their 50-year relationship was more than business and called it family. Patti Smith thanked Davis for transforming music and believing in her for more than half a century. Carlos Santana called him a visionary who understood music as a healing force and recognized talent before others did.

Davis’s stature extended beyond the studio and the boardroom. For years, he hosted high-profile pre-Grammy gatherings that turned into a cross-generational meeting place for the industry’s biggest names. He was rare in a business known for churn: a record executive whose influence outlasted formats, labels and eras, while the artists he backed kept carrying his name into new generations.