Clive Davis, the Sony mogul and Whitney Houston’s mentor and guide of her career for decades, paid an emotional tribute at the star’s funeral and tell the story of singer’s final days.

“You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all, well it takes your breath away,” Clive Davis recalled.

“That’s the way I felt in 1983 when in the middle of your act at Sweetwater’s, Cissy, your daughter stepped forward and shattered me with her version of Greatest Love Of All.”

“And that night we connected and then we connected with each other every night thereafter for the rest of her life,” Clive Davis added.

It was Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy party that Whitney Houston was getting ready for on Saturday February 11 when she ran a bath in her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel but never made it out.

The Sony mogul said being in the church was helping him and told of how he lost his mother as a teen when his mother was 47 and he lost his father the following year.

“I’ve felt my mother’s guidance and she’s helped me through my life,” Clive Davis said.

Clive Davis, the Sony mogul and Whitney Houston’s mentor and guide of her career for decades, paid an emotional tribute at the star’s funeral and tell the story of singer’s final days

Clive Davis added a recent memory of Whitney Houston’s final days: “Whitney and I spent the Tuesday afternoon before she died in my bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

“I looked at her on the couch, saw that she had applied a little makeup and was once again taken aback – she was one beautiful woman.

“We talked nonstop music, a subject we both fervently loved. And, as we spoke, I couldn’t help but silently reminisce about all that we had shared together over the years.

“When she broke that record of 7 consecutive number ones. We felt utter disbelief. We pinched ourselves. She was never arrogant.

“Whitney held my hand when I worried about her getting The Bodyguard, I worried about her transition from music to film.

“But who can ever forget how she looked when she mesmerized everyone in that stunning headdress with I Have Nothing, how she dazzled in her close-ups during Run To You, how she reinvented I’m Every Woman and how she captured the world forever with I Will Always Love You.

“Is there anyone who has sang Star Spangled Banner that remotely compares to her? Will there ever be?” Clive Davis mused.

Clive Davis spoke about the songs they listened to and recorded over the years and said the songs were “scorching his brain” right now.

“Yes she spoke to Oprah about her searing battles but when I needed her she was there. She was there for me. An entirely loyal friend,” Clive Davis said.

“I believe in you and me.

“I was her industry father and was so proud of it. And Bobbi Kristina – she loved you so very much. She defined not only pure talent but true heart and soul. Always be proud of your mother. She will forever be looking after you and never let go of your hand.

“She came to see me and was excited about the new cuts from her new movie Sparkle,” he said of the soundtrack.

“I’ve been swimming every day,” Whitney Houston told Clive Davis.

“I’m committed to getting my high notes back. No cigarettes. Clive I’ll be ready by August.”

“Well Whitney I will be ready by August. Everyone in heaven including God are waiting. And I just know you will raise the roof like no one has done before.”

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