Clive Davis

1
  • Year:
    2000
  • Inducted by:
    Patti Smith
  • Category:
    Ahmet Ertegun Award
Clive Davis

Introduction

Every act he touched turned platinum.

Producer and music executive Clive Davis had an uncanny eye for talent; he signed Whitney Houston, Patti Smith, P. Diddy and more.

Hall of Fame Essay

2000

Fred Goodman

“I’m not the oldest of the young guys,” director Francis Ford Coppola once remarked of his place in modern  Hollywood. “I’m the youngest of the old guys.” 

That surprising -and surprisingly apt-assessment can be applied with even greater illumination to the extraordinarily wide-ranging career and contributions of record executive Clive Davis.

The presence of Bob Dylan and the Byrds on its roster notwithstanding, Columbia Records was hardly a rock  powerhouse in 1967 when its new president, Clive Davis, ventured west to the Monterey Pop Festival.  

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program 2000
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Clive Davis and Rob Thomas at the Induction Ceremony Together
your wayward child salutes you
Patti Smith

Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage