beverly hilton death whitney houston Alicia Keys clive davis

As Alicia Keys prepared to enter the Beverly Hilton Saturday night -- just hours after Whitney Houston was found dead in her 4th-floor room at the hotel -- she stopped for a long embrace with her mentor Clive Davis.

Davis made the decision not to cancel his annual pre-Grammy party, despite Houston's passing -- but the mood of the event quickly shifted after news of the singer's death spread.

Clive Davis discovered Alicia Keys and set her on the path to winning five Grammys in 2002. Keys often compared the young star to his original protege, Whitney.

At the beginning of the evening, Davis read from a paper, to the crowd: ""I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me. She was full of life, looking forward for tonight. She loved music and she loved this night that celebrated music. Whitney was a beautiful person and she had a talent beyond compare. She graced this stage ... so many times. So simply put: Whitney would have wanted the music to go on."