Music: Greatest Hitmaker

This Saturday night, 24 hours before the 2003 Grammy Awards, Clive Davis will put on a tuxedo, tap a microphone and introduce guests at his annual pre-Grammy party to the best new artist--of 2004. "His name," Davis confides in advance, "is Gavin DeGraw. He's a piano player, a songwriter. A lot like Billy Joel or Elton John, but with the soul of maybe a Joe Jackson. He's gonna be a star."

Anyone with a Paula Cole CD collecting dust or an Arrested Development dashiki moldering in the closet has a right to be suspicious. Music executives prophesy long-term success for their artists all the time. Davis, however, has a track record. During his 35 years as a label president, he has signed and developed Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Patti Smith, Laura Nyro, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston. "I'm not really sure what it is with him," says Alicia Keys, whom Davis introduced to the world at his 2001 pre-Grammy party. "He just knows talent when he hears it, and he never hesitates about his own instincts."

Even considering those formidable instincts, Davis, 68, is in the midst of a career resurrection few thought he would ever see. In 1999 Davis was the president of Arista Records, the label he founded and had run for 25 years, when Arista's German parent, Bertelsmann Music Group, pressed him to retire. After months of tabloid speculation about how Davis--whose ego is a frequent subject of industry jokes ("Why does Clive Davis like CDs more than tapes? He thinks they were named after him")--would respond, he surprised his critics, friends and corporate overlords by stepping aside without a peep. As a reward for his grace, Davis was given seed money to start J Records, where in a short time he piloted Alicia Keys to five Grammys and 10 million worldwide album sales. In November 2002 slumping BMG decided that perhaps Davis was still vigorous enough to lead both J and its RCA label; BMG bought out Davis' share in J for a reported $50 million and named him chairman of the new RCA Music Group.

With control of J's heavily urban roster and RCA's diverse slate--which includes the Dave Matthews Band, Christina Aguilera, the Strokes and Foo Fighters--Davis is again the most high-profile executive in the business. Still, he insists, "my job now is the same as ever. That is, deliver transcendent talent." In title, Davis is RCA's president of artist and repertoire; in reality he is too famous to scout talent (the competition circles at the sight of him), and as even he reluctantly admits, he's too old to be going out every night. Since his move to J, Davis has begun relying more on a team of five A.-and-R. executives--Keith Naftaly, a former radio programmer; Peter Edge, who found Alicia Keys and Dido; James Diener, the rock guy; Trevor Jerideau, a hip-hop specialist; and Larry Jackson, a 21-year-old prodigy--to do his legwork.