Tabu Records was founded by industry legend Clarence Avant in the late 1970s and became a legendary label for early 1980s R&B with its marquee acts the S.O.S. Band, Alexander O'Neal, and Cherelle. It was also the training ground in which Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis honed their production skills—writing and producing virtually all of the label’s hits—until they worked with Janet Jackson.

It was distributed by CBS Records, and it remained there when it became Sony Music Entertainment, until 1991, when A&M Records distributed its releases. In 1993, Avant was hired to run Motown Records when it was part of PolyGram. During his tenure there, Motown distributed Tabu’s releases. Avant left suddenly during the late 1990s, and Motown replaced him with André Harrell.

The label went out of business in 1999, but since 2002, Tabu has been a label of EMI’s the Right Stuff through Virgin Records, focusing primarily on reissuing its catalog from the 1980s.

Label Code: LC4894