Following the death of legendary record executive Clive Davis on 22 June 2026 at the age of 94, American Songwriter has published a tribute highlighting four hit songs that owed their existence, or their success, to his intervention. The piece underlines Davis's outsized influence on popular music, arguing that several tracks now regarded as classics might never have reached listeners without his instinct for a hit.

The four examples span decades and genres. Davis pushed Bob Dylan to release "Lay Lady Lay" as a single despite the artist's doubts; he forced Bruce Springsteen to write more material, yielding "Blinded By The Light", later a US number one for Manfred Mann's Earth Band; he suggested the "I'm so lost without you" line for Air Supply's "All Out Of Love", earning a songwriting credit; and he identified The Church's "Under The Milky Way" as the standout single from their 1988 album Starfish.