Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Over its first 20 years of operation Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American independent recording labels, specializing in jazz, R&B and soul recordings by African-American artists, a position greatly enhanced by its distribution deal with Stax Records.
In 1967 Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music, signing Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Foreigner. In 2004 Atlantic Records and its sister label Elektra Records merged into Atlantic Records Group. Craig Kallman is currently Chairman of Atlantic Records. Label co-founder Ahmet Ertegün served as Founding Chairman until his death on December 14, 2006 at age 83. The label also has a number of deals with previously independent labels such as Must Destroy (which brought Goldie Lookin Chain and The Darkness into the label) and VP Records in Jamaica, home to reggae artists such as Sean Paul.
Read more about Atlantic Records: Early Years, The Hits Begin, Tom Dowd, Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun, Herb Abramson Departs, Expansion, Leiber, Stoller and Spector, Stax, The Soul Years, 1962–1967, Acquisition By Warner Bros., The Rock Era, "You're Pitiful" Dispute, Recent Developments, Notable Sublabels
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—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
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—W.N.P. Barbellion (1889–1919)