{"id":482043,"date":"2019-02-10T15:56:01","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T22:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=792644"},"modified":"2019-02-10T15:56:01","modified_gmt":"2019-02-10T22:56:01","slug":"clive-davis-pre-grammy-party-is-a-joyful-reminder-of-a-bygone-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/clive-davis-pre-grammy-party-is-a-joyful-reminder-of-a-bygone-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Clive Davis\u2019 Pre-Grammy Party Is a Joyful Reminder of a Bygone Era"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Even among jaded music industry types \u2014 hardened by years, if not decades, of quasi-authentic glad-handing and perpetual cynicism \u2014 there are few events more whimsical than Clive Davis<\/a>\u2019 annual pre-Grammy gala. Every year, on the night before the award show, the record label kingmaker hosts approximately 1,000 people for an event that combines myriad performances with Davis honoring and anointing his favorite industry people \u2014 many of whom have long locked down \u201clegend\u201d status \u2014 alongside various sports and political figures.<\/p>\n

But for all the paparazzi and glitz that Davis ensures each year, it\u2019s paradoxically one of the few places where celebrities can, to the extent celebs are able, \u201cbe themselves.\u201d Young musicians approach their influences starstruck with the same glee as a teenage fan. Actors buddy up with politicians (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi<\/a> got a standing ovation from the crowd when Davis introduced her). Managers, publicists and label honchos try to get their rising stars in front of \u201cthe right people.\u201d There is no Illuminati; but if there was, this room is the closest approximation.<\/p>\n

Imagine a wedding where roughly 50 percent of the room are celebrities and the best man (Davis) gives a speech every 15 minutes or so. As in past years, Davis\u2019 fetes to his colleagues take on a near-game show-like approach. (\u201cOur next honoree has won six Grammy awards, sold 38 million albums and starred in a 1983 movie that rhymes with \u2018Eggplant.\u2019\u201d) Guessing who it is becomes a parlor game in and among itself.<\/p>\n