Singing Praise for Clive Davis

There are honorees, and then there are honorees. The music industry legend Clive Davis falls into the latter category.

There wasn’t a soul in the Pierre Hotel’s ballroom yesterday who didn’t revere the pioneering music executive responsible for nurturing Janis Joplin, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, and Alicia Keys.

Mr. Davis was on hand to accept the Music Visionary of the Year Award from the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York’s Music for Youth program. The ceremony included a performance by a talent whose recording career Mr. Davis will launch later this year: Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson. Ms. Hudson belted out “One Moment in Time,” a song originally performed by Ms. Houston.

“Yes, I’ve been honored many times before, but each time is unique and special,” Mr. Davis said. “It’s important never to get jaded, never to feel blasé.”

One of the reasons this go-round was special is that Mr. Davis received the award from his son, Fred Davis, who is active in the United Jewish Appeal’s Entertainment, Media & Communications Division, and is a past recipient of this honor.

The younger Mr. Davis had his own take on what made the event special: “This is a unique opportunity to bring two communities together.” He explained how the event gathers the music industry as well as the Jewish community.

The gathering generated plenty of gossip: The chief executive of HarperCollins, Jane Friedman, said she returned from Paris last night with one of the first pairs of Philips headphones covered in Swarovski crystals. A digital marketing executive with RCA Music Group, Jennifer Fowler, said to listen for the song “A Bay Bay” by an artist out of Shreveport, La., Hurricane Chris, who represents the “ratchet” genre of hip hop.

All seemed united in their affection and respect for Mr. Davis.

“He embodies Jewish values of family, faith, and education,” a chairman of the event, Daniel Glass, said.

“He has a knack putting together artists with the right producer and, if necessary, writers, to make hit records,” an RCA Music Group executive vice president who has worked with Mr. Davis since 1975, Richard Palmese, said.

Attendees included a songwriter and member of the band Fall Out Boy, Patrick Stulph, and two of Mr. Davis’s personal friends, Dr. Haskel Fleishaker and Dr. Jennifer Mieres, New York University Hospital physicians who join Mr. Davis when he goes to clubs.

One way that Mr. Davis proved his worth as an honoree: The event raised more than $1 million for New York City initiatives that expose children to music. Two guests at the event will benefit directly: Mitsuko Yabe and Jonathan Rivera, both 15 years old, study violin in the Opus 118 Harlem Center for Strings.