Alicia Keys Eulogizes Clive Davis: 'You Recognized the
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- Alicia Keys delivered a eulogy at Clive Davis' funeral Monday titled "A Letter to the Man Who Believed First," telling him: "You saw not just the music I'd already made, but the music that was still sweeping inside of me."
- Keys recalled auditioning for Davis at age 15 — running late down 54th Street in a leather jacket — when Davis told her he would "treat me like Joni Mitchell, because Joni Mitchell tells me when she's done."
- Davis bought out Keys' contract at Columbia while heading Arista Records, then signed her to his new label J Records after his ouster from Arista; J Records released her debut Songs in A Minor in June 2001.
- Jennifer Hudson performed Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" immediately before Keys' eulogy, with other speakers including Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, and Bruce Springsteen, and performances by Kenny G.
- Keys recounted her first performance slot at Davis' Grammy party, where the "bad news" was that she'd have to follow Gladys Knight — prompting laughter in the room.
- Keys credited Davis with pushing her to resist industry pressure to "be something smaller, something easier, something safer," telling him: "You never asked me to shrink. You always asked me to expand."
Why it matters: Keys credited Davis' decision to buy out her Columbia contract and sign her to his new J Records label with giving her the freedom to release *Songs in A Minor* on her own terms. Her full eulogy puts concrete executive history on Davis' legacy at a moment when other coverage has centered on the celebrity speaker lineup — showing how specific label decisions, not just star watt, defined his career-launching track record.
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