# Ah damn, Ahmet Ertegun dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228 "2006-12-15T02:16:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/1 "2006-12-15T02:16:42Z")
Man, what a legend. He did more for music than just about anybody else, ever. It wasn’t old age that got him, but a fall that caused a head injury. [Music pioneer Ahmet Ertegun dies at 83](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_en_mu/obit_ahmet_ertegun) > [@](#): > > NEW YORK - Ahmet Ertegun, who helped define American music as the founder of Atlantic Records, a label that popularized the gritty R&B of Ray Charles, the classic soul of Aretha Franklin and the British rock of the Rolling Stones, died Tuesday at 83, his spokesman said. He was active to the end. > [@](#): > > Although he was slowed by triple-bypass surgery in 2001, he still went into his office almost daily to listen for his next hit. > > Finding those hits were among the most wonderful moments in his life, he said. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/2 "2006-12-15T02:21:12Z")
For god’s sake, please, no one say “Who the fuck/hell was Ahmet Ertegun?” ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/3 "2006-12-15T02:28:03Z")
Ray Charles. Thanks, Ahmet and RIP. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/4 "2006-12-15T13:28:19Z")
He better be on the cover of Rolling Stone and other music magazines - along with John Hammond and a few others, he is a defining musical giant of the 20th Century. I will repeat this as I have if a few other threads, if you have not seen **Tom Dowd: The Language of Music** - a documentary on the man who was the engineer / producer for most of Atlantic Records’ hits, along with the Allman Bros, Cream, etc…, it is one of the best music movies I have ever seen. Ahmet is featured in a few bits. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/5 "2006-12-15T14:14:13Z")
Was he somehow involved (maybe ownership) with the New York Cosmos? I first saw about this on a Soccer related board and there was a Cosmos ref but nothing in the link I read. I had not heard of him before today, but of course was greatly affected by his life nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![meow\_meow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@meow\_meow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meow_meow)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/6 "2006-12-15T14:49:17Z")
I met him a few years ago. He endows a program that I used to work in that had to do with Turkish studies. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/7 "2006-12-15T15:18:41Z")
[QUOTE=meow meow] I met him a few years ago. He endows a program that I used to work in that had to do with Turkish studies. [/QUOTE] Ertegun’s early life and career are an interesting read (a synopsis is given in Fred Bronson’s [Hottest Hot 100 Hits](http://www.amazon.com/Billboards-Hottest-Hits-Updated-Expanded/dp/0823077381/sr=1-1/qid=1166195339/ref=sr_1_1/104-6922957-6516766?ie=UTF8&s=books)). Aside from running Atlantic records with his brother, Ahmet Ertegun was part of a small cadre of Turkish producers that hugely influenced American popular music in the 60s and 70s (Arif Maridin and Albhy Galuten were two others that come to mind). His [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Ertegun) lays it all out. Think about it – Ertegun helped both Ray Charles and Led Zeppelin break. \*And \* he helped found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/8 "2006-12-15T15:27:39Z")
When I heard the list of artists this guy had a hand in, I was wondering if there was an end to it. This guy was da shit. Huge loss for music lovers everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/9 "2006-12-15T15:39:01Z")
Who is PIA Zadora with now/ And does she still have a great ass?? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/10 "2006-12-15T15:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] For god’s sake, please, no one say “Who the fuck/hell was Ahmet Ertegun?” [/QUOTE] For a moment I read it as Atom Egoyan and thought, whoa, and he was young. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/11 "2006-12-15T17:18:49Z")
83 years old, and died from injuries suffered at a rock concert. You can’t ask for a better way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-damn-ahmet-ertegun-dies/384228/12 "2006-12-15T20:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Who is PIA Zadora with now/ And does she still have a great ass?? [/QUOTE] She was married to [Meshulam Riklis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshulam_Riklis), another guy with a Middle Easternish-sounding name. There are a few of them.