CLIVE DAVIS

Clive Davis
Author: Photo by Christopher Peterson, 2007, Creative Commons

Born April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, NY

Music industry mogul, former Columbia Records President and founder of Arista Records.  

Went to NYU and Harvard Law School before getting his music industry start at Columbia where he signed stars like Simon & Garfunkel, Aerosmith, Billy Joel & Pink Floyd.

His exceptional eye (and ear) for talent led him to found Arista Records in 1974, which made household names of Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Barry Manilow, The Grateful Dead and Whitney Houston, to name a few!

An advocate for artists’ freedom of expression, he’s in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.