{"id":733443,"date":"2026-06-29T19:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/733443\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:40:09","slug":"bruce-springsteen-jennifer-hudson-pay-tribute-at-clive-davis-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/733443\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson Pay Tribute at Clive Davis Funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe funeral of legendary music executive Clive Davis \u2014 who died last Monday <\/a>at the age of 94 after a six-decade career \u2014 was every bit as dignified, flawlessly executed and deeply emotional as one of the events he staged or hits he oversaw, with moving speeches from Bruce Springsteen<\/a>, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, his sons Fred and Doug, and a stunning performance by Jennifer Hudson. Spotted among the attendees were Stevie Wonder, Gayle King and multiple top industry executives.<\/p>\n

\n\tUncharacteristically, for any who attended any of those events, it was a compact program that lasted just under 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe service, which was livestreamed from the Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan, began with a solo performance by Kenny G. A brief introduction from Senior Rabbi Angela W. Buchdahl followed, who began by saying \u201cClive would have loved this, he would have been touched that he filled the house, and by the many stars who are here.\u201d She then spoke of the importance of music for human lives and to religion: \u201cIn the Torah, when God parts the Red Sea and the Israelites cross over intro freedom, what does Moses do on the other side? He does not give a speech, he does not even pray: He sings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMany cantors are stunning singers, but Buchdahl proved herself exception by singing a song that Davis loved that he wasn\u2019t involved with: a jazzy version of \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow\u201d accompanied by a pianist and string quartet.<\/p>\n

\n\tA series of brief but powerful speeches followed. Dionne Warwick spoke of their decades of friendship and how, after her early years of success, she found herself without a record deal and was enjoying raising her sons. When she and Davis were introduced in the 1970s, he asked if she was making music. \u201cNah, I think I\u2019m gonna give this business up.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d he insisted, \u201cthe business isn\u2019t willing to give you up!\u201d He convinced her to make an album with him and Barry Manilow, and the result was her multiplatinum 1979 comeback album, \u201cDionne.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBarry Manilow spoke of their awkward first meetings, and how he\u2019d recorded a rock song, at Davis\u2019 request, that was a minor U.K. hit called \u201cBrandy.\u201d He recorded a rock version, \u201cClive said, \u2018That\u2019s terrible!\u2019 I said, \u2018I know it\u2019s terrible!\u2019\u201d But he worked out a version in a more comfortable arrangement, and \u201cI found the love song hiding in this rock song. And Clive said, \u2018Do that.\u2019\u201d The result, of course was retitled \u201cMandy\u201d by Davis and became Manilow\u2019s first major hit \u2014 and, he said, set the pattern of the two of them arguing and then emerging with a successful song.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis eldest son, attorney Fred Davis, recalled their early years living on Long Island \u2014 \u201cCan you imagine Clive Davis<\/a> living in suburbia?\u201d and commuting to his job as a lawyer before he became head of Columbia Records in the mid-1960s.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy contrast, his youngest son Doug, with whom he organized the Pre-Grammy Gala for the last 20 years, spoke of growing up in Manhattan with next-door neighbor Paul Simon\u2019s son Harper as his best friend. He said Davis \u201cwas not the kind of dad who would throw a ball with you in the backyard, but he was the kind of dad who made sure to take a 13-year-old with him to see Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis, Jr. at the Greek Theater. That did not feel cool to a 13 year old kid \u2014 but looking back, how incredibly cool was that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe spoke at length of how he seized the opportunity to work with his father on the gala in part because \u201cI thought I could create a bond forged as adults that perhaps may have eluded me as a child,\u201d when his father wasn\u2019t around often. \u201cHow blessed was I that I got to be closer to my father in adulthood than I was in childhood?,\u201d adding that his father and Grammy chief Harvey Mason jr. were already planning next year\u2019s party.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe also read a touching tribute from Simon, who is on tour but sent in a lovely speech, which includes this anecdote:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI remember the great anticipation that Art Garfunkel and I felt as we waited for Clive to hear \u2018Bridge Over Troubled Water\u2019 for the first time. He sat immersed in the music and then turned to us and said, That<\/p>\n

\n\tmay be the most remarkable record I think I ever heard.\u2019 Or maybe I\u2019m misremembering and he said, \u2018What else you got?,\u2019\u201d to laughter. \u201cBut I think he liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDoug was followed by an emotional performance from Jennifer Hudson, who was accompanied by the pianist and string quartet for \u201cHallelujah\u201d \u2014 written by Leonard Cohen, signed to Columbia during Davis\u2019 tenure \u2014\u00a0and then transitioned into \u201cI Will Always Love You,\u201d written by Dolly Parton but transformed into one of the biggest hit single by Whitney Houston. Hudson, choking up, paused several times as she sang the song\u2019s a capella intro, but then delivered a soaring version for the ages.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlicia Keys walked to the podium and spent a full couple of minutes with her back turned, composing herself before saying \u201cI\u2019m actually not a cryer, so I\u2019m in a strange place.\u201d She addressed Davis directly as she recalled auditioning for him for the first time as a 15-year-old: \u201cYou saw something in me that I was only just beginning to see in myself, and that\u2019s a gift I\u2019ll never fully be able to repay, only honor. You didn\u2019t just sign an artist, you recognized a soul. You saw not just the music I\u2019d already made, but the music that was still sleeping inside of me, waiting for someone with the wisdom and courage to call it forward. You called it forward \u2014 you called me forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFinally, Bruce Springsteen took the stage. \u201cClive was big and bombastic and brave and full of ideas and just believed, believed, believed, believed,\u201d he said. \u201cHe dressed like a king and he was born to run \u2014 everything!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe went back to 1972, recalling his nerves before auditioning before Davis, which was required before his deal with Columbia could be finalized.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI tentatively strummed my guitar. I think I played \u2018Growing Up\u2019 and \u2018up in Saint in the City. Songs that would end up predominantly placed on my first album. And when I finished, Clive, smiling, simply said, \u2018Welcome to Columbia Records.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd in those few words, he changed my life forever. Forever. Nothing\u2019s been the same since that day. On that day, Clive showed a 22-year-old nobody the same warmth, the same kindness, the same respect that he would show me. After all my success for the next 50 years, nothing ever changed.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe concluded, \u201cHe guided the listening public towards so much powerful and inspiring music. And he not only loved music, Clive actually loved the people who made the music, no matter how much of a pain in the ass they were,\u201d he laughed. \u201cAnd he loved those people deeply and permanently, with his loyalty, He let me know that that was always the way he felt about me. And I loved him back. I never felt nothing but love coming from Clive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ceremony closed with more words and a prayer from the rabbi, and as the attendees slowly filed out, the pianist and string quartet played versions of Houston\u2019s \u201cI Wanna Dance With Somebody\u201d \u2014 which sounds unexpectedly beautiful in a classical arrangement \u2014 and Springsteen\u2019s \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d complete with an interpretation of Clarence Clemons\u2019 saxophone solo.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was a fitting farewell to an executive who, as Springsteen said, \u201cchanged so many artists\u2019 and performers\u2019 lives.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The funeral of legendary music executive Clive Davis \u2014 who died last Monday at the age of 94…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[16755,236,196511,88],"class_list":["post-733443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-celebrities","tag-clive-davis","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}