{"id":1816144,"date":"2026-07-07T05:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1816144"},"modified":"2026-07-07T05:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:34:06","slug":"clive-davis-21-singers-bands-he-signed-developed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/clive-davis-21-singers-bands-he-signed-developed\/","title":{"rendered":"Clive Davis: 21 Singers & Bands He Signed & Developed"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The late record executive impacted the careers of many stars, including Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Santana, Aerosmith, Chicago and more. <\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tClive Davis attends the 68th GRAMMY Awards Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman at The Beverly Hilton on Jan. 31, 2026, in Beverly Hills.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\tLegendary label executive Clive Davis<\/strong> was known in the music business as the man with the \u201cgolden ears.\u201d While some suits shy away from involvement in the creative side of music making, Davis, who passed away on Monday<\/a> (June 22) at the age of 94, relished the opportunity to help artists he signed achieve their biggest hits. Over the course of his decades-long career in the record business, beginning in the 1960s as an in-house lawyer for Columbia Records, Davis had a hand in developing the careers and songs of iconic talents like Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson and many more. He also took veteran acts like Santana and Aretha Franklin and helped them launch into extremely popular second acts in their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps most famously, Davis\u2019 golden ears played a pivotal role in the production of Whitney Houston\u2019s \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d for the soundtrack to her 1992 film The Bodyguard. Co-star Kevin Costner is said to have suggested that Houston record the first part of the song a cappella, and while the song\u2019s producer, David Foster, and others at the label pushed back on this idea, Davis insisted that those first 40 seconds remain a capella.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDavis\u2019 and Costner\u2019s plan worked \u2014 Houston\u2019s rendition of \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record 14 weeks and remains her most iconic recording. In an interview with 60 Minutes in 2004,<\/a> Davis argued that all along it was his gut that guided his success, not his ears or any specific proclivity for music. \u201cI did not have a background in music, period,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt\u2019s your gut. It\u2019s the tingle up your spine. It\u2019s your ears. Whatever the anatomy part that it is, I found that it is a natural gift.\u201d<\/p>\n