The Avon Theatre Film Center will honor music industry icon Clive Davis with its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday, October 14 at the Avon Theatre - Deborah & Chuck Royce Cinema Arts Center in Stamford, Connecticut. The gala celebration will feature a special guest appearance by Paul Shaffer, who will perform a musical tribute to his longtime friend and colleague. Davis, a five-time Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, has shaped the careers of numerous music legends throughout his six-decade career. His influence spans generations of artists including Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Santana, and Alicia Keys.
The evening will showcase a retrospective of Davis's impact on both music and film through special performances and tributes. The addition of Shaffer, celebrated musician and former David Letterman bandleader, adds a personal dimension to the tribute. Shaffer's appearance represents a last-minute enhancement to the program that underscores the respect and admiration Davis commands within the music community. The gala serves as both a celebration of Davis's legacy and a fundraiser for the Avon Theatre's nonprofit mission of independent film programming, education, and cultural outreach.
Davis's career achievements include founding Arista Records in 1974, where he signed Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow, and later forming J Records in 2000, which launched Alicia Keys and Maroon 5. His current role as Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Worldwide continues his legacy of talent development. The event comes following recent honors including Davis's induction into the Apollo Theater's Walk of Fame in June 2025 and his Portrait of a Nation award from the National Portrait Gallery in 2022.
Tickets and sponsorship opportunities for the October 14 gala are available through the theater's website at https://avontheatre.org. Proceeds will support the Avon Theatre's cultural programming, which has served the Stamford community for nearly 85 years as an independent cinema showcasing foreign, classic, and documentary films. This recognition matters because it connects Davis's monumental music industry contributions to cultural preservation through nonprofit arts institutions, demonstrating how legacy celebrations can fuel community-focused artistic missions while honoring transformative figures whose work has defined popular culture across generations.
