NEW YORK, June 26 -- The most consequential night of Clive Davis's career did not happen in a boardroom. It happened at a New York showcase in 1983, where an unknown vocalist not yet twenty stepped up and sang, and Davis knew within the span of a single performance that Whitney Houston was the kind of talent that appeared only a handful of times in a generation. He signed her to Arista Records within weeks. When her debut album arrived in February 1985, it sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and produced three consecutive number-one singles. Davis died June 22, peacefully at his Manhattan home, at 94. He spent more than six decades in the record business. He is most remembered for that night.

His death set off an outpouring from a...