Ahmet Ertegun Dies at 83

December 16, 2006 -- The founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun left his mortal body on Dec 14, 2006 at an age of 83, after being in coma for nearly three months. During his performance at ex-President, Bill Clinton's 60th birthday, he fell backstage and had sustained head injuries.

He was survived by his second wife, Mica, a Romanian-born interior designer. They had no children.

Born on 31st July, 1923 at Istanbul, Turkey, Ahmet Ertegun was known as the Father of Rock and Roll by the music lovers of his time. His father was a Turkish Ambassador, and was posted at several countries like Switzerland, Paris, London, and the United States. This gave Ahmet a good lot of exposure to cultures of different countries.

"He was in a coma and expired today with his family at his bedside," said Dr. Howard A. Riina, Ertegun's neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

He was even a songwriter, who recorded, distributed and provided publicity to the music of then ignored Black America. He started his company, Atlantic Records with his friend, Herb Abramson. The 50's and 60's saw the upcoming empire of jazz, R&B, and pop through Atlantic Records.

When he was young boy of eight or nine years, he was impressed by the music rendered by the black people. Coming from Turkey along with his brother, Nesuhi Ertegun, Ahmet faked an American company to achieve his success in 1947. There was no turning back for him for over fifty years, and had promoted both the individuals and the bands in his time.

Ahmet Ertegun had the power to judge good singers and artists; he admired Ray Charles and considered him as the best singer and pianist. Even though he was a non-performer, he performed through his artists. Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, who called Ahmet, "Omelet", Bette Midler, and many others were his discoveries.

"We had some pop music -- we had Bobby Darin ... and we developed other pop artists such as Sonny and Cher and Bette Midler and so on," said Ertegun. "But we had been most effective that set a style as purveyors of African-American music. And we were the kings of that until the arrival of Motown Records, which was long after we started."

At 81, he received his first Grammy Industry Icon award. Two recent Hollywood films, Ray and Beyond the Sea depict him. As there were no awards for the producers at his time, he missed out one on the super hit of the year, Mac, the Knife by Bobby Darin, that was announced as the record of the year award. Even at 81, he dressed neatly and carried himself elegantly. He was seen wearing French cuffs and gold links, and starched shirts. He was bald and wore round and thick spectacles. He had a passion for music and Turkish politics.

"I've been in the studio when you go through a track and you run down a track and you know even before the singer starts singing, you know the track is swinging ... you know you have a multimillion-seller hit and what you're working on suddenly has magic," he said. "That's the biggest."

He was just 5.5 feet in height, but he was able to scale grand heights of success in the world of music. His looks and height never bothered him, and he was a bold person.

Ertegun will be buried in a private ceremony in his native Turkey, said Bob Kaus, a spokesman for Ertegun and Atlantic Records.