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NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Kenny G played a mournful sax solo, Jennifer Hudson\u2019s voice soared and Bruce Springsteen spoke glowingly at the funeral Monday for music legend Clive Davis, as pop royalty honored a man who championed so many of their careers.<\/p>\n
Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Ja Rule and Stevie Wonder were among the other musical stars at the service. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Adrien Brody, Hoda Kotb and Gayle King were among the other notables.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl said Davis would have been thrilled by the turnout. \u201cClive would have loved this,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019d have been touched to have filled the house, thrilled by the superstars who have come to share tributes to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The service was closed to the public but was livestreamed from Central Synagogue in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
Davis, a record company lawyer who rose to become one of music\u2019s most influential figures, launched the careers of numerous stars, including Whitney Houston, Springsteen, Keys and Kenny G, and influenced others such as Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.<\/p>\n
Springsteen called him big, bombastic and brave. \u201cHe was born to run everything,\u201d The Boss said. He remembered meeting him at age 22 in 1972, his anxiety rising. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to hear you,\u201d Davis told him. After his audition, the executive simply said: \u201cWelcome to Columbia Records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those few words, he changed my life forever,\u201d Springsteen said.<\/p>\n
Davis died June 22 in his Manhattan apartment at the age of 94, a few weeks after he was hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue.<\/p>\n
Buchdahl asked what song Davis most admired that was not something he had a hand in and was told \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow,\u201d written by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. \u201cYip\u201d Harburg in 1938 for the film \u201cThe Wizard of Oz.\u201d Buchdahl then sang a soaring version. \u201cYou have a home at Sony Music Classics,\u201d joked Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music Entertainment.<\/p>\n
Warwick told a story about how Davis urged her to work with Manilow in the late 1970s, which she initially resisted. But Davis\u2019 suggestion was fruitful: Their partnership, the album \u201cDionne,\u201d went platinum and earned two Grammy Awards. \u201cSo Barry and I became very, very good friends that day,\u201d she said to laughter.<\/p>\n
Manilow recalled Davis urging him to record the rock song \u201cBrandy,\u201d written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. Manilow turned it into a love song and played it for Davis. \u201cJust do that,\u201d Davis told him. They renamed it \u201cMandy.\u201d It went to No. 1. \u201cHe believed in me from the very beginning,\u201d Manilow said.<\/p>\n
Hudson sang Leonard Cohen\u2019s \u201cHallelujah\u201d and then grew emotional as she transitioned to \u201cI Will Always Love You,\u201d a hit for Houston. \u201dWe love you, Clive\u201d she said before getting a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
While many record execs saw their influence wane as they grew older, Davis\u2019 seemed to grow. He breathed new life into the careers of established artists such as Aretha Franklin and Santana, and helped launch Keys and several early \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d winners\u2019 careers, including Kelly Clarkson\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Springsteen said a world had died with Davis\u2019 passing \u2014 the record executive-led top-down changemakers that also included such visionaries as Berry Gordy, Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin and Jerry Wexler: \u201cMen who defined, loved and sustained the record business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t a day when I don\u2019t sit on my big front porch in my big house, surrounded by my big cars with my big family, looking out over my big yard, and Clive doesn\u2019t come somewhere whistling around the top of my brain,\u201d Springsteen said.<\/p>\n
Keys was in tears when she approached the podium and borrowed a handkerchief. \u201cI\u2019m actually not a crier. I\u2019m in a strange place,\u201d she told the crowd. She recalled being 15 when she first met Davis, running because she was late, and playing songs for him on a piano. \u201cYou saw something in me that I was just beginning to see in myself,\u201d she read in a letter to Davis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a world that so often reduces art to commerce, and genius to product, you held the line. You reminded me again and again that what we were doing was about truth and legacy, and about the human heart reaching out to another human heart and saying, \u2019You are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. An instrumental version of Houston\u2019s \u201cI Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)\u201d played as Davis coffin was carried out of the synagogue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Kenny G played a mournful sax solo, Jennifer Hudson\u2019s voice soared and Bruce Springsteen spoke glowingly at the funeral Monday for music legend Clive Davis, as pop royalty honored a man who championed so many of their careers. Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Ja Rule and Stevie Wonder were among … Continue reading Star-maker Clive Davis honored at funeral that draws Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick and others<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1519087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1451],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1519086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-entertainment-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-01 13:48:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1519086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519088,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519086\/revisions\/1519088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1519087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1519086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1519086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1519086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}