Inside Clive Davis and Kelly Clarkson's Bitter Battle Over Her Biggest Hits

Record producer and music executive Clive Davis died Monday, June 22, prompting renewed attention to a career that shaped modern pop music across six decades. Among the relationships that defined his legacy was one of its most contentious: his falling-out with Kelly Clarkson.

Davis played a central role in launching Kelly Clarkson’s recording career at RCA Records after her 2002 American Idol win. Under his guidance, she became one of the decade’s most commercially successful pop artists, charting a series of hits that built her into a household name.

The relationship soured by 2007, when tensions over the direction of Clarkson's third studio album, My December, came to a head. Clarkson pushed for a more personal, rock-influenced record.

Davis was skeptical of its commercial prospects and questioned whether the tracklist had a lead single strong enough to chart. Clarkson proceeded despite his objections, leading the album with Never Again.

Even as the friction became public, Clarkson was measured in how she addressed it.

"Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I'm well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time," she said at the time. "He has been a key advisor and has been an important force in my success to date. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was not obligated to do so."

The rift deepened further after Davis published his memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, in 2013.

According to the New York Times, Davis addressed the 2007 standoff and was sharply critical of Clarkson in the book, writing that she consistently pushed back against his creative direction.

He also claimed that Clarkson had been strongly opposed to including two tracks on her second studio album, Breakaway: Since U Been Gone and Behind These Hazel Eyes.

Davis wrote that Clarkson "burst into hysterical sobbing" when he insisted both songs be included. Both became among the biggest hits of her career.

Clarkson pushed back in a lengthy open letter.

“[Davis] says I burst into ‘hysterical sobbing’ in his office when he demanded ‘Since U Been Gone’ be on my album. Not true at all. His stories and songs are mixed up. I did want more guitars added to the original demo, and Clive did not. Max [Martin], Dr. Luke and I still fought for the bigger sound, and we prevailed, and I couldn’t be more proud of the life of that song. I resent him dampening that song in any way.”

"I cried after I played him a song I had written about my life called Because of You. I cried because he hated it and told me verbatim that I was a ‘sh-tty writer’ who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me.”

"He continued about how the song didn't rhyme and how I should just shut up and sing. This was devastating, coming from a man whom I, as a young girl, considered a musical hero and was so honored to work with. But I continued to fight for the song, and the label relented. And it became a worldwide hit. He didn't include that in the book."

“He doesn’t mention how he stood up in front of his company at a convention and belittled me and my music and completely sabotaged the entire project,” she said. “It never had a chance to reach its full potential,” she added.

Davis responded with a statement of his own.

"I am truly very sorry that she has decided to take issue with what I know to be an accurate depiction of our time together," he wrote, adding that every fact in the chapter had been verified by five independent individuals who were present throughout the events described.

"I stand by the chapter as written in my book. At the same time I wish, and will always wish, Kelly's talent and her career to soar to ever new heights."