Ahmet Ertegun, the famed pioneering co-founder of Atlantic Records, is in a coma after sustaining a serious injury to his brain after a fall. Ertegun, 83, lapsed into a deep coma, after he fell on Oct. 29 while attending a Rolling Stones concert. Ertegun is currently on life support at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. Ertegun founded Atlantic Records with Herb Abramson in 1947 with just $10,000. Ertegun, along with his brother Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, helped revolutionize popular music by releasing legendary artists like Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding, Joe Turner, Led Zepplin, John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin and numerous others. Atlantic has recorded and released numerous rappers over the years, like 2Pac, Lil’ Kim, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Sean “Diddy” Combs, T.I., Juvenile and others. “Ahmet has brought integrity, vision, style and class to the music business,” Heller told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “A giant among mere mortals. His presence will be sorely missed by those of us who had the privilege of knowing him.” Heller credited Ertegun as being responsible for the Ruthless Records release of J.J. Fad’s single and album Supersonic, the first Hip-Hop album to sell gold for any label in the Warner Music Group fold.
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