“I Lost a Piece of My Heart”: Barry Manilow Pays Emotional Tribute to Clive Davis With Several Other Icons

Published 06/29/2026, 4:56 PM EDT

Credits: @clivejdavis via Instagram

With the passing of Clive Davis, the music industry did not just lose a well-known record producer, A&R executive, and record executive, but it also parted ways with a noble soul who helped make the careers of several musical legends like Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, and so on. He was well-known for having a big impact on the music business, especially when it came to finding and developing talent. His contribution to music got him admitted as a non-performer into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 - a big feat indeed.

Now, after a week of his death, all big names of the music industry and his friends gathered at his funeral to pay their tributes to the legend.

Heartfelt tributes from iconic musicians for Clive Davis

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At Clive Davis' funeral in New York on Monday morning, a sizable gathering of celebrities, influential music executives, and other friends and family members gathered to pay moving tributes to Davis as a music enthusiast and supporter of musicians who founded the contemporary record industry. Some of the biggest musicians most associated with his career - including Dionne Warwick, Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow, Jennifer Hudson, Kenny G, and Alicia Keys - honored the mogul and his long-enduring legacy with their kind words.

“A few months ago, surgeons removed a piece of my lung. Last week, I lost a piece of my heart,” Manilow said in his speech. Barry Manilow, 83, fondly recalled the back and forth him and Clive would often have, lamenting, "who am I going to argue with?"

When Manilow first started working with Clive Davis, he recalled how the mogul begged him to cover the song 'Brandy,' but he did not think it was a good fit for him. When he played the recording for Clive Davis, they both thought it was awful. Manilow then presented him with other, more mellow iterations of the song, which Davis liked and asked him to stick to that. This resulted in the singer's first No. 1 hit, ‘Mandy.’

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However, Manilow was not the only one touching upon his relationship with Davis.

Dionne Warwick fond memory of Clive Davis

Dionne Warwick was the first speaker after Rabbi Angela Buchdahl. She sang 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' recalling Clive Davis' family's comment that he wished he had produced the song. Warwick remembered that while she was in between record agreements and thinking about quitting the music business altogether, Clive Davis had pursued her.

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The funeral was made more emotionally touching by the performances of Kenny G, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, etc. Following the emotional tributes, Clive Davis's family led his coffin out and departed for a private funeral. A string quartet performed Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)' as he walked down the aisle and out the doors, followed by 'Born To Run,' fitting for a man who was so defined by music.

‘Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives’: The 2017 Movie to Watch Remembering the Legendary Music Titan

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What is the best thing you remember about Clive Davis? Do lets us know in the comments.

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Harshit Kumar

517 articles

With nearly two years of experience in content writing, primarily in sports, Harshit has now ventured into the alluring alleys of Hollywood at NetflixJunkie. A true pop-culture fanatic and a certified cheat code for movie trivia night, he brings infectious enthusiasm to every conversation. He has strong opinions about everything from uplifting superhero spectacles to gripping psychological crime dramas, and he is never shy about backing them up.

Edited By: Adiba Nizami

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