Icon.
Indeed, there are few better words employable when describing music industry veteran Clive Davis.
Famed for steering the careers of megastars such as Whitney Houston, attention has rarely veered away from his gargantuan achievements. However, in a surprising move, the 80 year old has himself shared part of his private life in new memoir ‘The Soundtrack Of My Life’. Davis has revealed that he is bisexual — and has been in a long-term relationship with a man.
Full story after the jump…
Via Rolling Stone:
Davis, who has been married and divorced twice, has never before publicly addressed his sexuality. In a candid five-page section toward the end of the book, due in stores today, he writes that he first had a sexual encounter with a man during “the era of Studio 54.” “On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures,” writes Davis, who says he had only been with women before. Being with a man, he writes, provided “welcome relief.”
After a period of “soul searching and self-analysis,” Davis separated from his second wife in 1985, and says that he went on to have simultaneous relationships with two women and a man. In 1990, he entered into a “monogamous relationship” with a male doctor, who is not named in the book. Although that relationship ended in 2004, Davis says he has been in a subsequent relationship with another man ever since. Davis writes that his coming out deeply affected his ties with one of his sons, Mitchell: After what Davis calls “one very trying year,” father and son worked out their differences, Davis says.
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Wow. Totally unexpected.
The magnitude of Davis’ announcement has little to do with the fact he is bi-sexual (that part of the story is almost inconsequential); it’s most significant because he is sharing an aspect of his life that both the industry and certain sects of society still look down on. This being irony defined as many in front of the camera as well as those who make the magic happen share the same “preference” as him.
In many ways then, despite being 80 years old, Davis is arguably still trailblazing. For, in having such an illustrious and respected career, he (like the Frank Ocean‘s of the world) is helping the industry move towards a space and place of heightened acceptance. A space and place where one’s sexual preference doesn’t negatively impact their career or perception of who they are.