Godfather of Black Music Clarence Avant dies WSOC TV

The man known as “The Godfather of Black Music” has died.

Clarence Avant was 92. No cause of death was announced, Variety reported.

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According to The Associated Press, Avant died Sunday at his Los Angeles home. His family announced his death on Monday.

“Through his revolutionary business leadership, Clarence became affectionately known as ‘the Black Godfather’ in the worlds of music, entertainment, politics, and sports. Clarence leaves behind a loving family and a sea of friends and associates that have changed the world and will continue to change the world for generations to come. The joy of his legacy eases the sorrow of our loss. Clarence passed away gently at home in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 13, 2023,” they said in a statement, according to Variety.

Avant was born in a segregated Greensboro, North Carolina, hospital in 1931. He was one of eight children and raised by a single mother. He left high school to find work, eventually managing a lounge in New Jersey. He met his mentor Joe Glaser, a manager who represented Louis Armstrong, Barbra Streisand and even Al Capone, the AP reported.

He rose through the music world, becoming a manager in the 1950s and representing such singers and songwriters as Sarah Vaughn, Little Willie John and “Mission: Impossible” theme song composer Lalo Schifrin.

Decades later, he was an early patron of Black-owned radio stations in the 1970s and even took over control of Motown in the ‘90s after it was sold by founder Berry Gordy Jr.

Avant helped Michael Jackson embark on his first solo tour and helped launch the careers of Narada Michale Walden, L.A. Reid and Babyface, the AP reported.

“Everyone in this business has been by Clarence’s desk, if they’re smart,” mega-producer Quincy Jones had said of Avant.

Jones and Avant had become friends after missing out on a deal for Jimmy Smith. Jones was a vice president at Mercury Records and Avant was representing Smith. Mercury Records had signed Dizzy Gillespie for $100,000 and Avant tried to get about half a million for his client. Mercury didn’t sign Smith, who then went to Verve Records for that money, the AP reported.

Avant was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, TMZ reported. He was awarded the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

But Avant didn’t keep his focus just on music, helping Jim Brown transition from the NFL to becoming an actor. He also produced a television special for Muhammad Ali and secured deals for Hank Aaron when he was closing in on Babe Ruth’s home run record, making sure he got the same commercial spokespersons spots that at the time were not common for Black athletes and going so far as to personally making demands of the president of Coca-Cola, the AP reported.

Aaron told The Undefeated that everything he had become was “because of Clarence Avant,” the AP reported.

Avant also was a player in politics, working behind the scenes raising money for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and serving as an advisor for them, as well as for Jimmy Carter and George Bush, officially or unofficially, Variety reported.

He also was an early supporter of Tom Bradley, the first Black mayor of Los Angeles, and backed civil rights leader Andrew Young in his race for Congress to represent part of Georgia, the AP reported. They had never met before the campaign, but he offered to bring in Isaac Hayes and other stars for a benefit event held at a baseball stadium in Atlanta. Young forgot about the event until about a month later, when he started seeing signs promoting the show.

“We had about 30,000 people in the pouring down rain,” Young said, according to the AP. “And he never sent us a bill.”

Young was elected to Congress in 1971, according to his biography on Georgia State University’s website.

Bill Withers said during Avant’s Hall of Fame induction that, “What he’s done is a very unusual story. He puts people together, and they do what they do. How do you put together a life from knowing people? I’ve never seen him with a tool.”

“My whole career has been like this,” Avant told Variety in 2016. “People ask me, ‘how did you do all this?’ How the [expletive] do I know? I just do things. I just like to take shots.”

Avent’s life was touched by tragedy in recent years, as his wife of more than 50 years was found murdered in their home 19 months ago, TMZ reported. Jacqueline Gray was shot and killed in a burglary attempt in 2021 at the age of 81, Variety reported.

He leaves behind his children, Alexander and Nicole, along with his son-in-law, Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, TMZ reported.

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