Elegance and Grit

BETTE MIDLER
Ahmet took me under his wing. I think he was madly in love with my stage character. The character that I had been onstage was really a balls-to-the-wall kind of broad, and he loved that because it was a throwback to his youth when he was watching vaudeville theater and burlesque.

He was like Pan or something, like this bacchanalian kind of a character. In this buttoned-down world of ours, he just had a ball. The thing about him was he loved the game and he loved the fun, but at the bottom of it was the music. He was as passionate about music as any human being alive. He lived hard, and I think that the curiosity to hear another sound, to hear another song, to hear those chords played a different way, I think that's what kept him going.

TORI AMOS
I remember sitting in Doug Morris' office before Little Earthquakes came out and he asked somebody to come in without mentioning any names. And Ahmet came in and he listened to the album. He said, "Don't worry about making a Top Ten hit. You need to be concerned about writing great songs. And if you stop doing that, your career will be over. Never chase it." He was a record mogul and he understood the commerce side of it, but he also knew that you wouldn't have a fifteen-year career unless you could somehow transcend the commercial side of the industry and become a great songwriter. I never met anybody else who could listen to a song and detach himself from what he listens to for enjoyment and analyze sonic architecture. He could look at rock music or grunge music or singer-songwriters and be able to pick out the ones who would have sustained careers. He was always on the money.

For me, he was a sounding board. He could tell me what he thought of my songs. He didn't need millions of record sales to tell him what's good. He would always say, "Just because you've sold millions of records doesn't mean you're good. McDonald's sells a lot of hamburgers." And I've always followed his advice, even though I left Atlantic. I always remembered what he said. His words of wisdom gave me the strength to stand up to his own company.

And Ahmet danced with me at my wedding. He was the only record person that came -- and he was the granddaddy of them all! I said, "It means a lot to me that you came." He said, "I couldn't miss giving you away."

SOLOMON BURKE
To me, Ahmet was more than just a corporate figure, he was a friend and a godfather. He was not someone who just pushed a pencil, he pushed a brain with a heart that moved your soul. He felt what we were doing -- he wasn't just concerned about the sales. He was the person that I could always turn to for advice, knowing he would always be honest and truthful. His encouragement was always "Keep on, do it, you can do it," and that's just part of what made him so fascinating and fabulous. I loved his stories. The last time I saw him, this past year at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, we were laughing , telling all the old stories. Atlantic Records had so many great songs and so many wonderful people -- Sonny & Cher, Ruth Brown, Laverne Baker, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Stones, the Drifters, the Coasters, Bobby Darin, Ben E. King -- and so many great memories. I talked to Jerry Wexler the other day, and we had a moment, and a little bit of a tear came out when we started telling the Ahmet jokes.

Ahmet was a great man, a brilliant man, and a man of dignity and class. I send my love to his wife, Mica, and all of his staff at Atlantic for being so close and so real. Right now, I'm sure Ahmet is booking one of the biggest acts in heaven, and putting on one of the greatest shows ever. They've got the executive up there who's going to put it all together and make it happen. No one will replace Ahmet, but what a beautiful thought to know that those of us that are here, remaining in this business, have a light to look up to. We're gonna miss a cool dude.