Sticky Fingers, one of the most revered albums in the storied catalogue of the legendary Rolling Stones, is set to enthral a new generation of admirers. The 1971 classic — which captured the band at the absolute peak of their powers, on timeless tracks such as ‘Brown Sugar,’ ‘Wild Horses,’ ‘Bitch,’ ‘Sister Morphine’ and ‘Dead Flowers’ — will be reissued by Universal Music in a variety of formats worldwide on 25 May 2015, and on 26 May 2015 for fans in North America.

The reissue arrives as the Rolling Stones continue to captivate audiences around the world with their stunning live performances. Last year’s 14 On Fire tour saw the band play for over a million fans and in 2015 the Stones will set out on a North American tour of stadiums and festivals. The Rolling Stones newly branded ZIP CODE tour will kick off in late May, see rollingstones.com/tickets/ for details.

Sticky Fingers was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Stargroves, Mick’s country home and Olympic Studios in London, and produced by regular confidant Jimmy Miller, Sticky Fingers was released shortly after the Stones became exiled in the south of France, leaving Britain after a sensational farewell tour. It also featured some of the most ground breaking artwork in rock history by Andy Warhol, with its famous working zip on the front cover. Recreated in the Super Deluxe and Double Vinyl Deluxe Editions of the new package.

Sticky Fingers has been repeatedly hailed as one of the Stones’ all-time great albums, capturing their trademark combination of swagger and tenderness in a superb collection. It continued the incredible outpouring of creative energy that had produced 1968’s Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed in 1969. AfterSticky Fingers, the Stones’ relocation to the south of France led to the double album masterpiece Exile On Main St. The highly acclaimed Sticky Fingersshowcased the ever more inventive song writing of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and formidable guitar licks from Mick Taylor.

The new editions of Sticky Fingers follow the worldwide critical and commercial success of the Stones’ two previous deluxe reissues, for Exile itself (which took the album back to No. 1 in the UK in 2010, 38 years after it first topped the chart) and the 1978 classic Some Girls, repackaged in 2011.

As with those expanded releases, millions of Stones devotees will be hugely excited by not only the original album but the generous selection of previously unavailable material contained within the Deluxe and Super Deluxe formats. These include the alternative version of the chart-topping single ‘Brown Sugar’ featuring Eric Clapton; unreleased interpretations of ‘Bitch,’ ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’ and ‘Dead Flowers’; an acoustic take on the anthemic ‘Wild Horses’, and five tracks recorded live at The Roundhouse in 1971 including ‘Honky Tonk Women’ and ‘Midnight Rambler.’

The Super Deluxe edition will also house Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out!, the 13-track audio recording of the Stones’ gig in Leeds in March 1971, shortly before their ‘exile’ in France began. The set included versions of the just-completed ‘Brown Sugar,’ ‘Bitch’ and ‘Dead Flowers,’ one of their many authentic forays into country music territory.

There’s also a chance to see two numbers from the band’s famous Marquee Club show of March 26, 1971. Other features of the Super Deluxe Edition include a beautiful 120 page hardback book complete with real zip, featuring new liner notes and many rare and unseen photographs from the era plus a print, postcard set and more.

The first sessions that led to Sticky Fingers took place as far back as December 1969, in the remote location of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Alabama. The band then reconvened, back home in the UK both at Olympic and with the Rolling Stones Mobile parked up at Mick Jagger’s Stargroves home.

On April 23, 1971, 504 days after that first session in Alabama, Sticky Fingers was released, cheered on by media and public alike. “It is the latest beautiful chapter in the continuing story of the greatest rock group in the world,” wrote Rolling Stone.

As the album hit the shops that spring, ‘Brown Sugar’ hit the charts, and by early May, Sticky Fingers had become the band’s sixth UK #1 LP. Its four-week reign was matched by its performance in the US, and it also raced to the top in Australia, Canada and through much of Europe. As the aura grew around this essential part of the Stones’ epic story, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and became one of their four titles in the top 100 of Rolling Stone’s critics’ poll of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The welcome reappearance of Sticky Fingers will not only restate the pre-eminence of this album landmark, but add even greater distinction to perhaps the greatest catalogue in rock music.

Sticky Fingers is available to pre order now. Pre orders placed on iTunes for Deluxe and Super Deluxe versions will receive an instant download of a previously unreleased, acoustic version of ‘Wild Horses’. The track is also available to download andstream.

STICKY FINGERS, THE DELUXE REISSUE, RELEASED 25 MAY 2015 IN THE UK, US

25 MAY AND 22 MAY 2015 GLOBALLY VIA UNIVERSAL MUSIC