Ahmet Ertegun, the Turkish ambassador's son whose ear for the culture of black America would make his Atlantic Records a legendary fount of 20th century popular music, died Thursday. He was 83.
Ertegun had slipped into a coma after suffering a head injury in an October fall backstage at a Rolling Stones show celebrating the 60th birthday of former President Clinton. Ertegun never recovered from the severe trauma of the injury, said Dr. Howard A Riina, the attending neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and died with his family at his bedside.
Ertegun was a true titan of the music industry across decades -- his upstart Atlantic label became the home of R&B music in the 1950s with Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, the Drifters and the Coasters and then triumphed on new turfs in the 1960s and 1970s with signature acts such as Aretha Franklin; Led Zeppelin; Cream; Yes; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Sonny & Cher.
But more than a mogul, Ertegun was a passionate connoisseur of music who was beloved by many of his artists and peers for his personal panache and his encyclopedic knowledge of music, especially jazz and rhythm and blues.
"Ahmet had as much fun as any man alive," Stephen Stills of CSN&Y said Thursday. "He started out doing what he loved, and he did it all his life. He also brought America's black and white cultures together through music and helped cure the cancer of racism we had on our hearts."
Ertegun was a founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and remained chairman of Atlantic Records until his death. He was also an enthusiastic presence at concerts and industry events, such as the Stones' performance for Clinton at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan.
News that he had died brought an outpouring of sentiment from veterans of the music industry. And, even for a business circle inured to hyperbole, there was a strong consensus that an era had come to an end with the death of Atlantic's architect.
Ertegun started Atlantic Records in 1947 with a fellow jazz fan, Herb Abramson, as a partner and with a $10,000 loan they got from a family dentist. The label became a 1950s sensation by delivering earthy R&B and lively jazz that corporate labels were too slow or too timid to embrace.
"He was a visionary.... He was one of the great personalities of our time, moving from Jagger to Kissinger, from Ray Charles to Brooke Astor," said Clive Davis, the founder of Arista Records who now heads J Records and is chief executive officer of BMG North America. "His passion for music was singular, and his contribution to our musical heritage was second to none."
