Alicia Keys Tearfully Remembers at Clive Davis’ Funeral How He Changed Her Life: ‘Thank You for the Music’

Before Alicia Keys was a girl on fire, she was just a teenager who only needed someone to believe in her — and Clive Davis was that person. So at the legendary record executive’s funeral on Monday (June 29), the singer-songwriter was sure to attend and deliver a moving speech paying tribute to the man who changed her life.

Taking several moments with her back to the audience gathered at Central Synagogue in New York City as she composed herself, Keys eventually turned to face the podium. “I’m actually not a crier, so I’m in a strange place,” she said tearfully.

“This is called A Letter to the Man who Believed First,” she continued, holding a sheet of paper with her remarks. “Dear Clive, there are moments in life that feel like they were written before you ever lived them. Like the universe conspired quietly in the background, arranging people and places and timing so that something extraordinary could be born. Meeting you was one of those moments for me.”

The 17-time Grammy winner went on to reminisce on her first appointment with Davis — who was then still the head of Arista Records — when she was 15 years old. Because of train delays, she was late to the meeting, even after she ran as fast as she could down the street to get there.

“My manager was livid,” Keys recalled, but Davis was impressed by her nonetheless. He’d sign her to Arista in 1998, and after he founded J Records two years later, she followed him there, releasing her three-week Billboard 200-topping debut album Songs in A Minor in 2001.

“You saw something in me that I was only just beginning to see in myself,” Keys said at the funeral, getting choked up. “That’s a gift I’ll never fully be able to repay, only honor.”

Breaking up her speech with a moment of humor, the vocalist recalled a funny memory from her early days working with Davis. “‘I have good news, and I have bad news,’” she recalled him telling her. “‘The good news is you’re going to perform at my Grammy party — it’s going to be the first time I’m introducing a new artist. The bad news is that you’re going to have to follow Gladys Knight.’”

“In a world that so often reduces art to commerce, and genius to product, you held the line,” she added of the industry titan. “You are woven into the fabric of who I am. You showed me what it looks like to move through with integrity and intention … Thank you for the music, for the vision, for the encouragement, for the friendship. Thank you for seeing me fully, completely, from the very beginning.”

Davis died at the age of 94 on June 22, surrounded by family at his home in New York. His funeral service also featured speeches from Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick and Bruce Springsteen — two other stars who owe their career beginnings to the music giant — as well as an emotional performance of “Hallelujah” and “I Will Always Love You” from Jennifer Hudson.

After making a name for himself as president of Columbia Records, Davis founded Arista in 1974 and signed other greats such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Patti Smith. When he was ousted from the label, he started J Records. After majority stakeholder BMG merged with Sony, he became chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment, a role he held from 2008 until his death.

Keys’ partnership with Davis ultimately spawned eight studio albums, five of which topped the Billboard 200. She also scored five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including five-week chart-topper “Empire State of Mind” alongside Jay-Z, which she performed at the New York Knicks championship parade in NYC a few days prior to Davis’ death.