Gerry Griffith, Arista A&R Exec Who Discovered Whitney Houston, Dies at 87

(Courtesy of the Estate of Gerry Griffith)

Gerry Griffith, the former vice president of A&R at Arista Records who discovered the label's superstar Whitney Houston, died on Nov. 5 in Brooklyn, New York. He was 87.

His family confirmed his death in a statement, revealing he had battled dementia for the past five years.

A native of Chicago who served in the Army before entering the music business, Griffith is best known for bringing Houston to the attention of Arista's founder, Clive Davis. Arista signed Houston after Griffith encouraged Davis to attend her showcase at Sweetwater's in New York City. Davis credited Griffith with the discovery in his memoir The Soundtrack of My Life, and the incident was dramatized in the 2022 film I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which featured actor Lance A. Williams as Griffith.

While he was at Arista, Griffith handled artists across the popular music spectrum, notably working with Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Phyllis Hyman, Jennifer Holliday, Minnie Riperton and Dave Valentin. After he left Arista, he held a senior A&R position at Manhattan Records, playing an instrumental role in the development of Richard Marx's career.

Griffith also helped shape the blockbuster soundtracks for Pretty Woman and The Bodyguard, the latter of which won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1994. He advocated for the Bodyguard songs "Run to You" and "I Have Nothing," which earned Best Original Song nominations at the Academy Awards and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television nods at the Grammys. He also worked on Santana's 1999 comeback album, Supernatural.

Brenda Andrews, former senior vice president of Rondor Music International, said of her colleague, "Gerry never got the accolades he so deserved for discovering Whitney Houston but we knew the real deal. He gave me two hits out of the box with her, 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' and 'How Will I Know.' He knew hit songs! All of us will miss him."

Griffith is survived by his two daughters and two sons.