A couple of days before exiting his position as the CEO of the BMG label group, the legendary Clive Davis spoke on the No. 1 debut of Britain’s Leona Lewis, calling her the “real deal.”

“Leona Lewis will not be an overnight sensation,” Davis in a statement Wednesday. “She is the real deal and this is just the beginning of a long and illustrious career.”

This week, Lewis’ Spirit debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart and made her the first British artist to reach the top of the chart with a debut album.

Meanwhile, Davis who was instrumental in forming the careers of Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, just to name a few, moves into the new role of chief creative officer of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which includes RCA Records, Jive, LaFace and Arista, which Davis founded in 1974.