Ahmet Ertegun

There is a certain sort of excess that is interesting, don't you think? And America is, of course, the most excessive place. ”

There's no place in the world you can go and not hear rock-and-roll, from Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder to Phil Collins. ”

Soul lyrics, soul music came at about the same time as the civil rights movement, and it's very possible that one influenced the other. ”

I think it's better to burn out than to fade away... it's better to live out your days being very, very active - even if it destroys you - than to quietly... disappear. ”

The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops. That includes the Irving Berlins and the Hoagy Carmichaels, the Harold Arlens, Cole Porter. ”

Fifty years from now, people will still be listening to Led Zeppelin. They won't even remember me. ”

I love Ray Charles. He can still teach everybody a lot about how to make great music. Not necessarily how to make hits, but how to make great music. Of course, part of it is his incredible talent. Who are the greatest jazz singers in the world? Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Ray Charles. ”

I've lived very well all my life, even when I had no money, and there's very little I can't afford. ”

Jesse Stone did more to develop the basic rock-and-roll sound than anybody else. ”

The Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame will provide a center where the lives and the artistry of the greatest jazz musicians will be celebrated, and where people will come to learn about jazz, something to which my brother devoted his life's work. ”