Gerry Griffith

Gerry Griffith died on 5 November 2026 in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 87, after a five year battle with dementia. His death was reported by Billboard on 13 November 2026. Tributes came from colleagues across the record and publishing business, including Brenda Andrews, formerly of Rondor Music International, and the manager and publisher Deirdre O'Hara, who recalled urging him to go and see Houston. His family said a memorial service would be held at a later date.

Gerry Griffith was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. As a young man he served in the United States Army. After his military service he moved into the music industry, where he would spend the rest of his working life finding and developing singers and songwriters.

Griffith worked in artist and repertoire, the side of the record business responsible for finding talent and matching artists with songs. At Arista Records he rose to vice president of A&R and worked with a wide range of artists, including Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Phyllis Hyman, Minnie Riperton, Jennifer Holliday and the jazz musician Dave Valentin.

His most celebrated discovery was Whitney Houston. He first heard her as a 16 year old singing alongside her mother, Cissy Houston, in 1979. When he saw her again in 1983, at the Seventh Avenue South club in New York, he was convinced. With another label reportedly close to signing her, he persuaded Arista president Clive Davis to come to a showcase, and Houston signed with Arista that year. Her self titled debut album sold more than 22 million copies.

Griffith also worked with Carlos Santana during the guitarist's late career revival on the Grammy winning album Supernatural, whose single Smooth with Rob Thomas topped the Billboard Hot 100. He later held a senior A&R executive role at Manhattan Records, part of EMI, where he worked with Richard Marx, and he contributed to the soundtracks for Pretty Woman in 1990 and The Bodyguard in 1992. The Bodyguard soundtrack, with Houston's I Will Always Love You, I Have Nothing and Run to You, won the Grammy Award for album of the year.

Griffith was a father of four, two daughters and two sons. He was known among colleagues as modest about his role in Houston's rise. Speaking to Billboard after her death in 2012, he gave much of the credit to Davis, saying that the expertise and financing Davis put behind her was what made it happen. In his later years he lived in Brooklyn, New York, and spent the last five years of his life living with dementia.

Griffith is remembered as the executive who first brought Whitney Houston to Arista, setting in motion one of the most successful careers in popular music. Many in the industry felt his contribution was overshadowed by that of Clive Davis. Brenda Andrews said that Gerry never got the accolades he so deserved, but that those who worked with him knew the real deal. Ray Harris, co founder of the Living Legends Foundation, said the music industry had lost a truly great record executive and a truly nice guy.