Of the many pop stars christened by the record industry titan Clive Davis, none may be more closely associated with him than Whitney Houston. Their working relationship of nearly three decades resulted in huge successes, but their story was also complex, the subject of much debate, and it ended in tragedy.<\/p>\n
Davis, who died on Monday at the age of 94<\/a>, signed Bruce Springsteen, nurtured Barry Manilow and helped reinvent Aretha Franklin.<\/p>\n But it was Houston, whom he signed in 1983 when she was 19, after seeing her perform at an Upper West Side club, whose career he almost solely steered to worldwide superstardom.<\/p>\n Before she even went into the studio, Davis personally introduced her on \u201cThe Merv Griffin Show\u201d as the inheritor of the mantle of pop-gospel singing, The New York Times reported<\/a> in 1985.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you ever saw her live, it was so overpowering,\u201d Davis later told People<\/a>. \u201cNever has a voice so effortlessly or emotionally been able to bring the songs home.\u201d<\/p>\n In Houston, Davis recognized the potential of a powerful mezzo-soprano as an instrument to reshape modern pop music. He signed her to Arista Records but did not rush out an album. Instead, he took years to sync her song selections and music producers in meticulously guiding her 1985 debut album.<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s sophomore album, \u201cWhitney,\u201d released two years later, cemented her juggernaut status. Davis paired Houston with the producer David Foster, and the pair flourished.<\/p>\n Her stature grew even more with the release of the single \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d in 1992. Houston\u2019s version of the Dolly Parton song became the best-selling single ever by a female artist. Davis insisted that the track begin with Houston\u2019s 40-second a cappella intro, after a suggestion by her \u201cBodyguard\u201d co-star Kevin Costner.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, there were several calls from radio to our promotion staff, advocating changing the beginning,\u201d Davis told Billboard<\/a>. \u201cBut, frankly, this was a classic.\u201d<\/p>\n The song spent a record-breaking 14 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, beating the mark set by Boyz II Men\u2019s \u201cEnd of the Road.\u201d<\/p>\n In painstakingly curating Whitney\u2019s image as \u201cAmerica\u2019s Sweetheart,\u201d Davis sought to maximize her crossover appeal. In the 2017 documentary \u201cWhitney: Can I Be Me<\/a>,\u201d a former Arista employee said that recorded material from Houston that was \u201ctoo Black-sounding\u201d had been \u201csent back.\u201d<\/p>\n Those efforts may have ostracized Houston\u2019s Black audience.<\/p>\n Critics and some Black radio stations argued<\/a> that she had strayed from the tradition of R & B soul and gospel music. In the late 1980s, audience members booed when Houston\u2019s name was announced at the Soul Train Music Awards.<\/p>\n \u201cIt bothered her and me,\u201d Davis told<\/a> Vibe. \u201cI mean, Whitney is a Black woman. It\u2019s silly and shallow, the criticism you get when you cross over.\u201d<\/p>\n It was after Houston\u2019s death in 2012<\/a>, at 48, that critiques of Davis\u2019s role in her life became most prominent. After years of public struggles with addiction, she was found submerged in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton after a drug overdose. Efforts to revive her failed, and she died just hours before Davis\u2019s annual gala at the hotel, a Grammys staple that he began in 1976. The party went on as planned.<\/p>\n Davis paid tribute to Houston at its beginning. \u201cBy now you have all learned of the unspeakably tragic news of our beloved Whitney\u2019s passing,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have to mask my emotion in front of a room full of so many dear friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Many questioned why Davis elected to hold the party while her body remained at the hotel and mourning attendees milled around in shock. On CNN, the singer-songwriter Chaka Khan called the decision \u201ccomplete insanity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s death prompted interest in Davis\u2019s knowledge of the singer\u2019s battle with addiction. In 1997, after Houston suffered a severe overdose, Davis convened an intervention at his home.<\/p>\n In March 2000, Houston did not perform at the Academy Awards after delivering a poor rehearsal. A statement from Arista said she had a sore throat. Davis, in his 2013 memoir, \u201cThe Soundtrack of My Life,\u201d wrote that he had insisted Houston attend rehabilitation after the episode but had been rebuffed.<\/p>\n \u201cShe told me point-blank \u2014 politely, but in no uncertain terms \u2014 that whatever was going on with her was a personal matter and she had it under control,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n In the 2017 documentary, several former colleagues speculated that Houston\u2019s sexuality may have contributed to her addiction. Houston denied being gay, but her friend and creative director, Robyn Crawford, wrote in a 2019 memoir, \u201cA Song for You: My Life With Whitney Houston,\u201d that the two had engaged in a romantic relationship.<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s former husband, Bobby Brown, wrote in his own book, \u201cEvery Little Step\u201d (2016), that Houston struggled with her sexuality and with the need to maintain her public image.<\/p>\n Referring to \u201cthe people around her, like Clive Davis and her family,\u201d Brown wrote: \u201cThey couldn\u2019t let Whitney live the life she wanted to live; they insisted that she be perfect, that she be someone she wasn\u2019t. That\u2019s why they wanted Robyn out of Whitney\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n