Clarence Avant, the music executive known as the “Black Godfather,” died at the age of 92, 19 months after his wife was murdered in their Los Angeles home.
In a statement made on Monday, August 14, his children, Nicole and Alexander, as well as his son-in-law, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, announced his death. He died on August 13 at his residence in Los Angeles, according to authorities.
Clarence is leaving behind “a long family and a sea of friends and associates who have changed the world and will continue to change the world for generations to come,” they said. The joy of his legacy softens the pain of our loss.”
Clarence began his career in the 1950s as the manager of a lounge in New Jersey, where he was trained by Louis Armstrong’s music manager, Joseph G. “Joe” Glaser.
He immediately established himself as a music industry pioneer, managing innumerable singers and performers such as Sixto Rodriguez, Bill Withers, and the duet Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
He also established two record companies during his career, Venture Records in 1967 and Sussex Records in 1969, as well as the first African-American-owned FM radio station.
Clarence arranged the sale of Stax Records, went on to become chairman of the board of Motown Records, and will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was honored with an Industry Icon Award at the Grammys in 2019, the same year that his Netflix documentary, “The Black Godfather,” premiered.