Record mogul Clive Davis' cause of death revealed

Melissa Ruggieri and Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY Mon, June 22, 2026 at 7:14 PM UTC

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Clive Davis' cause of death has been determined.

Davis' rep confirmed his death to USA TODAY, weeks after he was hospitalized for an upper respiratory infection. In a statement, his longtime rep Aliza Rabinoff said the music titan "passed away peacefully from age-related illness … surrounded by his family and loved ones."

One of the most influential record moguls in music history and the mastermind behind the careers of Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Earth, Wind & Fire, Alicia Keys and dozens of other artists, died at 94 at his New York City home.

His death follows the label icon's 2021 Bell's palsy diagnosis. The condition, a type of temporary facial paralysis, forced him to postpone a portion of his annual pre-Grammys gala, held via Zoom that year.

But aside from his infection in early June and Bell's palsy diagnosis, from which he recovered, Davis had not publicly faced any other serious health issues.

Clive Davis death: Mogul was behind music's biggest icons

The former Columbia Records head spent years unearthing musical talent that would escalate into landmark artists: Janis Joplin, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Chicago, Pink Floyd, Earth, Wind & Fire and Aerosmith were but a handful of his discoveries.

Clive Davis, music titan behind Whitney Houston, dies at 94

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Along with shepherding the career of Aretha Franklin in 1979 and detecting Whitney Houston's talent in 1983, Davis culled a coterie of other radio regulars in the '80s and '90s – Thompson Twins, Taylor Dayne and Ace of Base among them – before expanding the Arista Records empire.

Clive Davis speaks onstage during the 67th Grammy Awards pre-Grammy Gala & Grammy Salute to Industry Icons honoring Jody Gerson on Feb. 1, 2025, in Los Angeles.

In the late-'80s he enlisted L.A. Reid and Babyface to form the subsidiary LaFace Records – which boasted a roster featuring TLC, Toni Braxton, Usher, OutKast and Pink – and in the mid-'90s partnered with Diddy, then-Sean "Puffy" Combs, to create Bad Boy Records, which spawned the careers of Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans and Combs.

Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, the same year he left Arista and founded J Records, going on to ignite the careers of Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and, through a joint venture with Octone Records, Maroon 5.

Even as he aged, Davis was still deeply involved in choosing talent for his annual Pre-Grammy Gala. Days before the show, he could be found in his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California, poring over his comments for that year's event and talking excitedly about the newcomers he'd plucked to perform alongside legends.

As he told USA TODAY in 2024: "It's not a matter of that I still want to be part of [the industry], I just am. And I wouldn't change it for anything."

Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clive Davis' cause of death revealed after mogul dies at 94

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