Clive Davis, music industry starmaker, has died at 94

NEW YORK (AP) — Clive Davis, a music industry mogul who launched or resurrected the careers of Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana and Alicia Keys, has died. He was 94.

Davis died in his Manhattan apartment, weeks after being hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue, his publicist Aliza Rabinoff said.

Many artists mourned his passing on Monday. Carlos Santana called him “a visionary.” Patti Smith thanked him for a half century of “love and support.” Davis' family, in a statement, said he "shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history.”

Davis’ influence grew since the 1960s to span genres and labels as he directed the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to “American Idol” winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. His groundbreaking support for Black artists earned him the NAACP’s Vanguard Award. His exclusive pre-Grammys gala has been an institution since he first threw the party in 1976.

“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at this year’s gala.

Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a traveling salesman, and attended New York University and then Harvard Law School. He became an in-house lawyer at a time when Columbia Records was resisting rock ‘n’ roll. Seven years later, he was company president and seeking to capitalize on the counterculture spirit he witnessed at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival.

His success stories were a staggering who’s who of America’s most iconic and enduring musical acts — with Houston both a crowning achievement and a devastating tragedy. Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.

Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2012, hours before Davis’ annual gala downstairs. He had been convinced she was turning her life around.

“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life,” “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.”

Davis proudly noted the other talents he signed, including Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.

“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman ... I signed Lou Reed ... I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.

He also signed the up-and-coming producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose Bad Boy Records under Davis scored huge hits, most notably with Notorious B.I.G., long before Diddy landed in prison.

Davis also kept veterans relevant. Aretha Franklin flourished in her later years at Arista as did Luther Vandross at another Davis label, J Records.

It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album “Supernatural,” pairing guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents to win eight Grammys. And he persuaded middle-aged rocker Rod Stewart to try standards from “The Great American Songbook.” That album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all.

His collaborators didn’t always agree — Davis won a bitter fight with producer David Foster over Houston’s all-time hit, a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” — and the song was published with its iconic a cappella intro.

And Manilow strongly objected to recording “I Write the Songs” — a song he didn’t write — but it too became a signature hit. “He’s just brilliant at picking ideas he thinks the public will connect,” raved Manilow.

Columbia fired Davis in 1973, accusing him of mismanaging funds. Davis pleaded guilty to tax evasion and had to pay a $10,000 fine, but said Columbia funded Arista to resolve the dispute. That label became another huge success, with country superstars Brooks & Dunn, sassy R&B group TLC, Babyface, Houston, Franklin and others.

Arista also signed Milli Vanilli, the male pop duo that was stripped of its best new artist Grammy after revealing they were lip-syncing their songs.

In 1999, Arista’s parent company BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire. He was ousted despite support from his superstar roster. But BMG then helped Davis launch J Records, where he found his next star in Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter whose powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs would sell millions of Grammy-winning albums.

Davis later ran BMG’s U.S. division, guiding “American Idol” winners to platinum albums. Some disagreed with his directions — Clarkson went her own way with “My December” — but she apologized after the album flopped. Davis was serving as worldwide chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment at his death.

He was married twice, and in his memoir, confirmed he was bisexual and living with a man.

His family — including four children — shared a loving statement on Monday, saying they “celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness.”

Former AP writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody was the main writer of this obituary.

FILE - Clive Davis, left, and Jennifer Hudson arrive at the Pre-Grammy Gala & Salute to Industry Icons with Clive Davis honoring David Geffen in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)

FILE - Alicia Keys, left, and Clive Davis attend the "Hell's Kitchen" Broadway musical opening night performance in New York on April 20, 2024. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Barry Manilow, from left, Carly Simon and Clive Davis arrive at the 2016 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 14, 2016. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Clive Davis, left, appears with Aretha Franklin at Aretha's 69th birthday party, in New York, Friday, March 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)

FILE - Record mogul Clive Davis is pictured in his New York office, Sept. 10, 1980. (AP Photo/Marty Reichenthal, File)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Norway's World Cup match against Senegal started as scheduled at MetLife Stadium on Monday night after heavy rain earlier in the day.

About 100 miles (160 kilometers) south in Philadelphia, France's match against Iraq was suspended for 2 hours, 10 minutes because of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The U.S. National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for parts of New York City and New Jersey that included Bergen County, where MetLife Stadium is located. Roads leading to the stadium had standing water four hours prior to the 8 p.m. EDT kickoff, but rain subsided and was not falling when the game began.

“Showers and potential thunderstorms with high amounts of moisture are expected to move through the area this afternoon and tonight,” the NWS said. “These showers will have the potential to produce up to around 2 inches of rainfall per hour. These rates could result in flash flooding mainly over urban and poor drainage areas.”

Weather conditions that would cause a delay in the start of matches or an interruption are not included in World Cup regulations.

“FIFA will continue to monitor conditions in real time and stands ready to apply established contingency protocols should extreme weather events occur,” the governing body said in a statement, adding it would maintain “close collaboration with host governments, medical experts and emergency authorities.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his latest edition of a video series throughout the tournament advised ticket-holders to begin their trek to the stadium at least four hours before the start time.

“Do not underestimate the weather," Mamdani said. "Thunderstorms may be severe, and winds may be strong.”

New York City Emergency Management issued a travel advisory earlier Monday.

“I’m urging everyone to plan ahead and give themselves extra time to travel safely,” Mamdani said in a statement. “No destination is worth risking your safety. If conditions become severe, stay indoors and wait until it’s safe to travel.”

The open-air venue, which opened in 2010 and seats about 80,000, was constructed over steel pilings in the New Jersey marshlands.

At last year's Club World Cup in the U.S., six of 63 games were delayed by weather for a total of 8 hours, 29 minutes.

The start of England's friendly against Costa Rica on June 10 at Orlando, Florida, was pushed back one hour because of a storm, and a June 5 friendly between Saudi Arabia and Puerto Rico in Austin, Texas, was suspended in the 21st minute because of weather and resumed about 90 minutes later.

World Cup regulations say “in the case of a match being abandoned as a result of force majeure after it has already kicked off … the match shall recommence at the minute at which play was interrupted rather than being replayed in full, and with the same scoreline.”

“The match shall recommence where play was stopped when the match was interrupted (e.g. with a free kick, throw‑in, goal kick, corner kick, penalty kick, etc.),” it adds. “If the match was abandoned while the ball was still in play, it shall restart with a dropped ball from the position of the ball when play was stopped. The kickoff time, date, location and any other matter shall be decided by FIFA.”

In addition, “FIFA has the right to cancel, reschedule or relocate one or more matches (or the entire FIFA World Cup 26) for any reason at its sole discretion, including as a result of force majeure or due to health, safety or security concerns.”

Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup

Fans of Norway wait for the beginning of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The flags of Norway and Senegal are displayed on the pitch before the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephen Collingwood)

A general view of the MetLife stadium during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Brazil and Morocco in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)