19 months after his wife was killed at their home in the Los Angeles region, Clarence Avant, the music mogul who was affectionately referred to as the “Black Godfather,” has away at the age of 92.
In a statement posted on Monday, August 14, his spouse Ted Sarandos, sons Nicole and Alexander, and grandson Alexander acknowledged his passing. On Sunday, August 13, they reported that he passed away at home in Los Angeles.
“A long family and a sea of friends and associates that have changed the world and will continue to change the world for generations to come,” they said of Clarence’s legacy. His legacy brings happiness, which lessens our loss’s pain.
In the 1950s, Joseph G. “Joe” Glaser, Louis Armstrong’s music manager, mentored Clarence when he began his career as a nightclub manager in New Jersey.
He swiftly rose to prominence in the music industry, managing a huge number of artists including Sixto Rodriguez, Bill Withers, and the duet Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
He also started the first African-American-owned FM radio station and two record companies, Venture Records in 1967 and Sussex Records in 1969.
In addition to becoming Motown Records’ board chairman and being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, Clarence arranged the sale of Stax Records.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was awarded an Industry Icon Award at the Grammys in 2019, the same year his Netflix documentary, “The Black Godfather,” debuted