NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Kenny G played a mournful sax solo, Jennifer Hudson’s voice soared and spoke glowingly at the funeral Monday for music legend , as pop royalty honored a man who championed so many of their careers.
Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Ja Rule and Stevie Wonder were among the other musical stars at the service. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Adrien Brody, Hoda Kotb and Gayle King were among the other notables.
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl said Davis would have been thrilled by the turnout. 鈥淐live would have loved this,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檇 have been touched to have filled the house, thrilled by the superstars who have come to share tributes to him.鈥�
The service was closed to the public but from Central Synagogue in Manhattan.
Davis, a record company lawyer who rose to become one of music鈥檚 most influential figures, , including Whitney Houston, Springsteen, Keys and Kenny G, and influenced others such as Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.
Springsteen called him big, bombastic and brave. 鈥淗e was born to run everything,鈥� The Boss said. He remembered meeting him at age 22 in 1972, his anxiety rising. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to hear you,鈥� Davis told him. After his audition, the executive simply said: 鈥淲elcome to Columbia Records.”
“In those few words, he changed my life forever,鈥� Springsteen said.
Davis died June 22 in his Manhattan apartment at the age of 94, a few weeks after he was hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue.
Buchdahl asked what song Davis most admired that was not something he had a hand in and was told 鈥淪omewhere Over the Rainbow,鈥� written by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. 鈥淵ip鈥� Harburg in 1938 for the film 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz.鈥� Buchdahl then sang a soaring version. 鈥淵ou have a home at Sony Music Classics,鈥� joked Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music Entertainment.
Warwick told a story about how Davis urged her to work with Manilow in the late 1970s, which she initially resisted. But Davis鈥� suggestion was fruitful: Their partnership, the album 鈥淒ionne,鈥� went platinum and earned two Grammy Awards. 鈥淪o Barry and I became very, very good friends that day,鈥� she said to laughter.
Manilow recalled Davis urging him to record the rock song 鈥淏randy,鈥� written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. Manilow turned it into a love song and played it for Davis. 鈥淛ust do that,鈥� Davis told him. They renamed it 鈥淢andy.鈥� It went to No. 1. 鈥淗e believed in me from the very beginning,鈥� Manilow said.
Hudson sang Leonard Cohen鈥檚 鈥淗allelujah鈥� and then grew emotional as she transitioned to 鈥淚 Will Always Love You,鈥� a hit for Houston. 鈥漌e love you, Clive” she said before getting a standing ovation.
While many record execs saw their influence wane as they grew older, Davis’ seemed to grow. He breathed new life into the careers of established artists such as Aretha Franklin and Santana, and helped launch Keys and several early 鈥淎merican Idol鈥� winners’ careers, including Kelly Clarkson’s.
Springsteen said a world had died with Davis’ passing 鈥� the record executive-led top-down changemakers that also included such visionaries as Berry Gordy, Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin and Jerry Wexler: 鈥淢en who defined, loved and sustained the record business.鈥�
鈥淭here isn鈥檛 a day when I don鈥檛 sit on my big front porch in my big house, surrounded by my big cars with my big family, looking out over my big yard, and Clive doesn鈥檛 come somewhere whistling around the top of my brain,鈥� Springsteen said.
Keys was in tears when she approached the podium and borrowed a handkerchief. 鈥淚’m actually not a crier. I’m in a strange place,鈥� she told the crowd. She recalled being 15 when she first met Davis, running because she was late, and playing songs for him on a piano. 鈥淵ou saw something in me that I was just beginning to see in myself,鈥� she read in a letter to Davis.
鈥淚n a world that so often reduces art to commerce, and genius to product, you held the line. You reminded me again and again that what we were doing was about truth and legacy, and about the human heart reaching out to another human heart and saying, 鈥橸ou are not alone.鈥�
Davis is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. An instrumental version of Houston鈥檚 鈥淚 Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)鈥� played as Davis coffin was carried out of the synagogue.
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