In many respects, Ahmet Ertegun provided the soundtrack to my life.
Ertegun, a Turkish ambassador’s son who started collecting records for fun, helped define American music as founder of Atlantic Records, a label that popularized Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Sonny and Cher, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
He also shaped the career of my main man — John Coltrane.
Ertegun became one of the most powerful figures in popular music, but unlike many an imperious music mogul, he had close relationships with the artists he discovered, signed and nurtured.
He fell at a Rolling Stones concert in New York in October, suffered a head injury and slipped into a coma. Ertegun was 83 when he died on Thursday.