Why Sticky Fingers marked the Stones' most important label break and their first self-released album

By 1971 the Rolling Stones were fed up with Decca Records – the label owned their early catalog and paid them peanuts. Their contract expired in 1970, and they were free for the first time. They formed their own imprint, Rolling Stones Records, distributed by Atlantic in the US and by a series of partners elsewhere. Sticky Fingers was the first album released under this new deal, which meant they controlled the music, the artwork, and the profits.

The album itself became a landmark. It kicked off with “Brown Sugar,” a track so raw and problematic that it still sparks arguments. The cover—Andy Warhol’s jeans-and-zipper photo, with a working zipper—was pure provocation. But it also signaled that the Stones were now in charge of their own image. Sticky Fingers went to No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic and proved they didn’t need Decca to make hits. From then on, everything went through their own label, setting the model for the rest of their career.