Why late music mogul Clive Davis came out as bisexual aged 80
Clive Davis (Getty Images)
Grammy Award-winning music producer and label boss Clive Davis died on June 22, 2026 at the age of 94 – but he lived a very interesting life before then.
Throughout his career, he signed iconic acts including Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Westlife, Ace of Base, and Alicia Keys among many others. He also worked with Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson on their Grammy-winning albums Breakaway (2006) and Jennifer Hudson (2009) respectively.
But his personal life also made headlines when he came out as bisexual in 2013, at the age of 80.
Before then, he had been married and divorced twice. First to Helen Cohen between 1956 and 1965, and then to Janet Adelberg from 1965 to 1985.
He came out as bisexual in 2013 in his autobiography The Soundtrack of My Life, which would later become a documentary.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine’s Anthony DeCurtis, he explained: “After my second marriage failed … I just found that I would open myself up to the possibility of a relationship based on the person and not on gender.”
He went on: “It was frankly intimidating in the sense that the adage is true… nobody believes it. You’re either gay or straight or you’re lying. You get tired of not making any progress.”
What Clive Davis said about being bisexual
In his book, Davis said his first sexual encounter with a man was in “the era of Studio 54”. At the time, he was married to Janet Adelberg.
He wrote: “On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures. Was I nervous? Absolutely. Did the heavens open up? No. But it was satisfying.”
Davis said he then went through a period of “soul searching and self-analysis” and then dated men and women after his split from Adelberg.
Speaking to Katie Couric, he explained: “You don’t have to be only one thing or another.
“I opened myself up to the possibility that I could have a relationship with a man as well as the two that I had with a woman.”
While speaking with Nightline, he explained that he didn’t have sex with a man “for over 50 years” but he “wasn’t repressed” as he had “very good sexual relationships with women”.
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