Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records Founder, Dies

Ahmet Ertegun, the son of a Turkish diplomat who, with his brother Nesuhi and friend Herb Abramson, turned a $10,000 loan from his dentist into Atlantic Records, one of the world’s most successful record and entertainment companies, died Thursday, December 14.

Ertegun, 83, was backstage at a Rolling Stones concert in October when he slipped and suffered a fall that put him into a coma. He never recovered.

While gospel was only a small segment of the company’s overall record catalog, gospel artists who were on Atlantic included early stars the Mary Johnson Davis Gospel Singers, featuring future Ward Singers Frances Steadman and Thelma Jackson, and Jeff Banks; songwriter/gospel impresario Otis Jackson; New Orleans’ Jackson Gospel Singers; the Rosettes (who sang with Rosetta Tharpe); Little Richard (the gospel singer); and Rev. H.B. Crum and the Mighty Golden Keys.

In the 1960s, Atlantic would produce albums by a variety of artists, including Chicago’s Helen Robinson Youth Chorus, organist Alfred Bolden, the Richburg Singers, Marion Williams, the Harmonizing Four, and the Institutional Church of God in Christ Radio Choir.

Of course, Atlantic will always be known as the label that made Rev. C.L. Franklin’s daughter Aretha an international star.

Read more about the life and career of Mr. Ertegun at Atlantic Records.