Clive Davis: the starmaker who shaped modern music (opens in new tab)

An empathetic executive whose expertise transcended genres, he displayed an uncanny ability to spin talent into gold. Aretha Franklin once called him "the greatest record man of all time." "Clive has the mind of a bank executive and the ears of a teenager," said Davis protege Barry Manilow, the singer-songwriter known for "Copacabana" and other easy listening hits. A lawyer by education, Davis entered the music world as counsel at Columbia Records before shifting into management and in 1966 b...