My father believed very strongly in Ataturk. Ataturk was a very powerful man and a man of great vision.

People like Clyde McPhatter who came out of the black churches - like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin - were all church singers who became great pop singers because gospel singing is very close to the blues.

I came close to signing Elvis Presley. I offered $25,000 for his contract and they asked for $45,000 and I just didn't have the other $20,000. I should have gotten the Beatles. But one of my lawyers kind of messed up.

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 lifes work.

The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops.

There's been so much bad blood between the Kurds and the Turks.

Whenever a songwriter writes a big hit, then the next 20 songs they write - no matter how bad they are - get recorded.