Kevin Costner Calls Clive Davis Whitney Houston's 'Bodyguard': 'You Were a Miracle in Her Life'

Kevin Costner shared a heartfelt speech about the legendary music exec during his Pre-Grammy Gala on Saturday night

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 04: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Kevin Costner (L) and Clive Davis attend the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons Honoring Julie Greenwald & Craig Kallman at The Beverly Hilton on February 04, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Kevin Costner and Clive Davis pose for photos at Davis' Pre-Grammy Gala. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty

Kevin Costner is celebrating Clive Davis as 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 — including Whitney 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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THE BODYGUARD, Whitney Houston, Kevin Costner, 1992, (c) Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection

The touching moment was part of Davis' event — which also featured performances from the likes of Lizzo, Lil Wayne and Latto, plus a performance of Houston's "The Greatest Love of All" from Jennifer 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's The Bodyguard into a success.

"'I Will Always Love You' was number one before the movie ever came out, and thanks to the musical guidance of David Foster and 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."

"When some of us met Clive, it altered our lives for the better, and in some cases forever," he continued. "I don't see Clive as just a man of his time, but maybe more importantly, a man who changed the times he lived in. And he did it by listening, he did it by believing in himself. ... What he believed in most was a special gift that his artists were blessed with. The only thing better than being one of his artists was maybe being his friend."

Clive Davis & Whitney Houston at the Private House in Los Angeles, California
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 the significance of her cover of Dolly 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 to The 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 even used to sing to him in 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."

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