Clive Davis
Born 1932 · Age 93
American record producer, A&R executive, record executive and lawyer; founder of Arista and J Records; long-time Sony Music chief creative officer; five-time Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee (non-performer).
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Brooklyn, New York
Clive Jay Davis born to Herman and Florence Davis in Brooklyn, NY.
Graduated Erasmus Hall High School
Graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn (approx. year based on college entry).
Graduated NYU magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
Completed B.A. in Political Science at New York University, magna cum laude and elected Phi Beta Kappa.
Graduated Harvard Law School
Received J.D. from Harvard Law School; member of Board of Student Advisers.
Married Helen Cohen
First marriage to Helen Cohen (marriage later ended in 1965).
Joined first law firm in Manhattan
Began practicing law at a small Manhattan firm after law school.
Joined Rosenman law firm
Moved to the larger firm Rosenman, Colin, Kaye, Petschek & Freund where partner Ralph Colin had CBS as a client.
Hired as assistant counsel, Columbia Records
At age 28 Harvey Schein hired Davis as assistant counsel to Columbia Records (CBS subsidiary).
Promoted to general counsel at Columbia
Promoted to general counsel the year after becoming assistant counsel.
Appointed Administrative VP & General Manager, Columbia Records
As part of a reorganization Davis became administrative vice president and general manager (Billboard Aug 7, 1965).</
Named head of Columbia's recorded-music operations (new CBS unit)
CBS formed the Columbia-CBS Group and Davis headed the restructured recorded music operations (CBS Records).
Hired Tony Orlando to Columbia publishing
Hired 23-year-old Tony Orlando as general manager of Columbia publishing subsidiary April-Blackwood Music.
Appointed President of Columbia Records
Promoted to president of Columbia Records; began emphasizing rock and folk-rock signings.
Signed Donovan and other major artists (Columbia era)
Signed Donovan and during his Columbia tenure oversaw signings including Santana, Sly & the Family Stone, Laura Nyro, Chicago, Bruce Springsteen and others.
Signed Janis Joplin / Big Brother & the Holding Company
Acquired Janis Joplin by paying Mainstream Records reportedly $200,000 for her contract.
Attended Monterey Pop Festival
Attended the festival (June 1967), a turning point that influenced his A&R direction toward rock.
Insisted on 'Rose Garden' single for Lynn Anderson
Pressed for release of 'Rose Garden,' which crossed over to become a global hit and best-selling female country album for 27 years.
Signed Earth, Wind & Fire to Columbia
Added Earth, Wind & Fire to Columbia's roster (1972).
Consultant to Columbia Pictures/Bell Records
Hired as a consultant for Columbia Pictures' Bell Records music label after leaving Columbia Records.
Fired from Columbia Records amid payola allegations
Ousted in 1973 during investigations/controversy related to payola and alleged misuse of company funds (reported widely; later personal exoneration followed).
Founded Arista Records (with Columbia Pictures backing)
Founded Arista Records (fall 1974); Columbia Pictures provided financing and a reported $10,000,000 in backing to start the label.
Published first memoir 'Clive: Inside the Record Business'
Authored and published first book about the record business, a national bestseller in hardcover and paperback.
Barry Manilow's 'Mandy' goes #1 shortly after Arista launch
Only months after Arista opened, 'Mandy' (found and named by Davis) reached #1, establishing early momentum for the label.
Clive Davis Entertainment first-look pact with TriStar
Set up his production company and signed a two-year first-look agreement with TriStar Pictures (Variety, June 24, 1987).
Co-founded Arista Nashville with Tim DuBois
Launched Arista's country division (Arista Nashville), which signed Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis and Brad Paisley.
Co-founded LaFace Records with L.A. Reid & Babyface
Partnered to create LaFace Records (October 1989), home to TLC, Usher, Toni Braxton, Outkast and Pink.
Turned Arista 15th-anniversary into AIDS benefit; raised $2M
Converted the company's 15th anniversary concert into 'That’s What Friends Are For: Arista’s 15th Anniversary Concert Benefit' raising ~$2,000,000 for AIDS causes.
Entered 50/50 joint venture to create Bad Boy Records with Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Formed Bad Boy Records as a 50/50 joint venture; label became home to The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase, 112 and others.
Bad Boy Records early sales milestone
Bad Boy Records sold over 12 million albums in its first three years (including multiple RIAA platinum and multi-platinum titles).
Arista holds top three Billboard Hot 100 positions
In 1995 Arista occupied the top three Hot 100 spots simultaneously for five weeks — rare industry milestone (TLC, Monica, Notorious B.I.G.).
Received amfAR Humanitarian Award
Recognized by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) for significant philanthropic work on AIDS causes.
Santana's 'Supernatural' album released; major sales
'Supernatural' (produced with Davis) sold over 26 million copies worldwide and spawned #1 hits including 'Smooth'.
Inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (non-performer)
Inducted in the non-performers category; in same year received Grammy Trustees Award and other recognitions.
Founded J Records
Launched J Records (August 2000) as an independent label backed financially by BMG; named for Davis' middle initial and his children.
Named world's No.1 A&R of 2001 by HitQuarters
Industry recognition for outstanding A&R achievements based on worldwide chart data.
Alicia Keys debut success on J Records
Alicia Keys' debut 'Songs in A Minor' (J Records) sold over 10 million copies and won multiple Grammys; major early success for J Records.
Donated $5M to NYU Tisch to create Department of Recorded Music
Announced gift of $5,000,000 to NYU Tisch School of the Arts to create the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music.
BMG buys majority stake in J Records; Davis named head of RCA Music Group
BMG acquired a majority stake in J Records (2002); Davis became president & CEO of RCA Music Group and chair/CEO of BMG North America and J Records.
Received Hitmaker Award (Songwriters Hall of Fame)
Honored with the 2003 Hitmaker Award by the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame.
BMG merges with Sony to form Sony BMG
Corporate merger that returned many former CBS Records assets into the Sony fold and affected Davis' corporate relationships.
Named Chief Creative Officer, Sony Music Entertainment
Elevated to Chief Creative Officer for Sony Music Entertainment in a restructuring (April 2008).
Received Grammys President's Merit Award
Awarded the President's Merit Award at the 2009 Grammys for contributions to music.
NARAS to name theater inside the Grammy Museum after him
Announcement that the state-of-the-art theater at the Grammy Museum would be named the 'Clive Davis Theater' (announced 2010, named 2011).
Received Honorary PhD, NYU; donated additional $5M to expand Institute
NYU awarded an Honorary PhD of Fine Arts to Davis; he gifted an additional $5,000,000 to expand the Department into the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Arista and J Records dissolved; artists moved to RCA
Restructuring of RCA Records resulted in dissolution of Arista and J Records (Oct 2011).
Publicly came out as bisexual
Announced publicly his bisexuality in his autobiography and media interviews (2013).
Published autobiography 'The Soundtrack of My Life'
Autobiography released by Simon & Schuster; entered NYT Non-Fiction bestseller list at #2 and remained in top ten for nine weeks.
Recognized as one of 31 Icons of LGBT History Month
Honored by Equality Forum as one of the 31 Icons in 2015's LGBT History Month.
Documentary 'Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives' premieres at Tribeca
Two-hour documentary opened the Tribeca Film Festival (April 19, 2017); later won Critics' Choice and Hollywood Music & Media awards.
Served as Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Entertainment
Continued in the role of Chief Creative Officer at Sony Music (position listed as of 2018).
Executive producing 8-part Aretha Franklin series
Began executive producing an 8-part television series on the life of Aretha Franklin for Disney and Brian Grazer.
Produced Aretha Franklin Memorial Concert
Executive produced the televised Memorial Concert for Aretha Franklin broadcast on CBS (Jan 2019).
Documentary premieres on Netflix
Clive Davis documentary premiered on Netflix (Sept 2019) and reached high sales on iTunes previously.
Produced 'CLIVE DAVIS: MOST ICONIC PERFORMANCES' for Paramount+
Produced a four-part series during the COVID era featuring interviews and performance clips of legendary artists.
Produced NY Philharmonic 'Homecoming Concert' in Central Park
Produced the NY Philharmonic concert (Aug 2021) celebrating reopening after COVID; CNN broadcast to ~16M viewers globally.
90th Birthday Celebration
Celebrated 90th birthday with a star-studded guest list of 550+ attendees; tributes from major artists including Springsteen and Alicia Keys.
Portrait by David Hockney (National Portrait Gallery mention)
Notable cultural recognition: David Hockney sat with Davis to paint his portrait for the National Portrait Gallery (reported 2023).
Continued role and public activities
Remains active in music production, mentorship, philanthropy and as Chief Creative Officer (ongoing public role).
Key Achievement Ages
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