Kevin Costner and Clive Davis pose for photos at Davis' Pre-Grammy Gala.Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty
Kevin Costneris celebratingClive Davisas a “man who changed the times he lived in.”
The actor, 68, toasted the music executive and his legacy during Davis' annual Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Saturday, sharing a heartfelt speech about his impact on the lives of many — includingWhitney Houston. (Houston died on the night of the same party back in 2012.)
“I want to say something that I’ve never said to you before,” Costner said at the end of his speech about Davis, 90. “Maybe this isn’t the room for it but I don’t want to miss the moment. And this is from the heart.”
“Neither one of us, in the end, could protect your beloved Whitney,” he continued. “But your fingerprints on her life are clean, my friend. You were a miracle in her life.”
Costner added: “Thank you for being her bodyguard, Clive, and for every person in this room who you have stood behind and stood for. Everyone in this business has a mom, but not everyone gets a Clive.”
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Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection
The touching moment was part of Davis' event — which also featured performances from the likes of Lizzo,Lil Wayneand Latto, plus a performance of Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” fromJennifer Hudson.
Costner shared the powerful speech to kick things off, telling the crowd that Davis “threw his soul into a song that he was unsure of at first” and “single-handedly drove the song that helped turn” 1992’sThe Bodyguardinto a success.
“‘I Will Always Love You’ was number one before the movie ever came out, and thanks to the musical guidance ofDavid Fosterand the voice that came out of that little body that night in the studio,” Costner shared. “We have a performance of a lifetime. We’re all chasing dreams here. We’re all crossing paths, and sometimes, we do them through fate and destiny.”
Clive Davis and Whitney Houston in 2000.Lester Cohen/WireImage
Costner reflects fondly on his time working on the 1992 film with Houston, and he told PEOPLE about thesignificance of her coverofDolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” during last year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.
“I don’t think we’ll ever forget when that little song came out, that she just blew up,” he said. “She sang the first part of it a cappella and musically the world was never the same.”
“We have a moment of her in that movie we’ll never ever forget that and I think that when movies are working at their best, that’s what can happen,” Costner continued.
The song’s legacy has been a lasting one, having earned Houston the Grammy Award for record of the year in 1994 and best pop vocal performance, female. It also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The soundtrack toThe Bodyguard, meanwhile, also won big at the Grammys, earning album of the year and securing the title of being the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.
RELATED VIDEO: Whitney Houston: A Musical Timeline
DeVaughn Nixon, who played Houston’s son in the film, told PEOPLE last March that the Grammy winner evenused to sing to himin her trailer and read him Bible verses when they weren’t filming, which he called “a beautiful experience.”
“Whitney was my guardian [on set],” Nixon said at the time. “She and I were really, really, close.”
source: people.com
