Clive Davis Recalls Aretha Franklin Asking Him ‘Could I Have Hits Again?’ at Nearly 40

Clive Davis recalled an intimate moment with Aretha Franklin.

The famed music producer, 93, looked back on his relationship with the late hitmaker while being inducted into the Apollo Walk of Fame at the historic theater’s 2025 spring benefit in New York City on June 4. PEOPLE was in the room for the intimate induction, where Davis made remarks.

While addressing the crowd, the music producer looked back on his days working with Franklin, saying, “The attractive, the great Aretha Franklin, called me. She was now near 40, passed her prime. ‘Could I have hits again?’ she said to me.”

Davis shared how the interaction sparked their beautiful relationship. “She who stood more for history than any one person I’ve ever been with. She said, ‘Can I cook dinner with you?’ I was thrilled. We spent the night chatting, collaborating and bonding,” he recalled.

Davis listed the various hit songs they worked on together, including “Freeway of Love,” “I Knew You Were Waiting for Me,” “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and “A Rose Is Still a Rose.”

“We got back our Queen of Soul, the great Aretha Franklin,” Davis said.

Davis has won five Grammy Awards over the course of his career. The producer has held positions at several major music labels, including Columbia Records, RCA Music Group and BMG. In addition to Franklin, whom he signed to Arista Records in 1980, he worked with Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd and Barry Manilow.

The Apollo Spring Benefit 2025, hosted by Kym Whitley, brought out many music icons. Davis, an inductee, also received the Legacy Award recipient, while Teyana Taylor was the recipient of the Inaugural Innovator Award. Method Man, Larry Jackson, Babyface, Busta Rhymes and Deborah Cox were among the attendees.

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The theater’s annual fundraiser is described as “a spectacular celebration of the theater’s rich legacy and its commitment to its future as a mission-led arts and cultural organization, a community anchor and an economic driver for Harlem and New York City.”

Davis mourned Franklin after her death in August 2018 at age 76.

“I’m absolutely devastated by Aretha’s passing. She was truly one of a kind. She was more than the Queen of Soul.  She was a national treasure to be cherished by every generation throughout the world,” he wrote on X. “Apart from our long professional relationship, Aretha was my friend.  Her loss is deeply profound and my heart is full of sadness.”

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In 2022, Davis hosted the Paramount+ miniseries Clive Davis: Most Iconic Performances and looked back at the legendary artists he helped shape.

“Boy, do I remember the phone call I got from Aretha. She asked me to have dinner with her. I never knew her, but she was already the Queen of Soul,” he said at the time.

Source People.com