Music Icon Ahmet Ertegun 1923 - 2006

Music pioneer, visionary, record label founder, jazz and R&B collector and producer, Ahmet Ertegun has passed away at age 83 from a head injury. A rock and roll fan until the very end, he slipped and fell at a Rolling Stones concert in October, and later slipped into a coma.

He was a giant in the music business. He and a friend Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records in 1947 and was instrumental in the careers of early R&B artists Ruth Brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, and later on helped usher in the British Invasion with Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yes and the Rolling Stones.

Ahmet Ertegun has signed, produced and worked with other such notable artists as Wilson Pickett, The Drifters, Roberta Flack, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Vanilla Fudge, Eric Clapton, Bad Company,The Allman Brothers, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Bette Midler and Iron Butterfly.

Ahmet was honored this past June at the 40th Montreux Jazz Festival with an all star concert featuring many of the artists he has worked with over the years. Ahmet and his brother Nesuhi Ertegun were both recognized for their outstanding efforts both in the music industry and with the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Ertegun also helped create the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, and received the Grammy Trustees Award in 1993. In 2000 he was named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress.

Read more at NewsDay & Rolling Stone

Related Tags: Music, Rock and Roll, Classic Rock, Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records, Montreux Jazz Festival, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Library of Congress, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, The Drifters, Roberta Flack, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Vanilla Fudge, Eric Clapton, Bad Company, The Allman Brothers, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Bette Midler, Iron Butterfly, CybersMusic

Posted by Mike