When Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson founded the record label Atlantic Records in New York City in 1947, they could hardly have imagined how profoundly their passion for discovering artists and making records would shape 75 years of popular culture. The reason for Atlantic’s enormous global success is clear: the label built a revolutionary business model that embraced and championed a wide range of genres, from Black music such as R&B, soul, jazz, and hip-hop to rock, pop, dance, and much more.

75 Years of Atlantic Records is the official, definitive photographic chronicle of this legendary label. Created over four years, it draws on Atlantic’s extensive archives, with many images published here for the first time. Discover soul pioneers like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, groundbreaking jazz musicians such as John Coltrane and Charles Mingus, era-defining pop acts like the Bee Gees and ABBA, rock legends like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, singular vocalists such as Roberta Flack and Stevie Nicks, and contemporary stars including Ed Sheeran and Charli XCX. They are photographed by some of the world’s best, including Annie Leibovitz, Jim Marshall, Lee Friedlander, Walter Iooss Jr., Anton Corbijn, Chuck Stewart, Albert Watson, and David LaChapelle, in formal portraits, live performance shots, studio images, and intimate behind-the-scenes snapshots.

Captions by Richie Unterberger and Herb Powell provide rich background detail, while award-winning writers David Ritz, Ben Ratliff, Elizabeth Nelson, Barney Hoskyns, and others explore the label’s genres, complemented by a timeline and profiles of its founders. A foreword by Bruno Mars describes how Atlantic revolutionized the way records were made and heard. This story is documented here in a comprehensive, engaging volume, an essential book for music lovers.