Loaded is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground, released in November 1970 by Atlantic Records subsidiary Cotillion. It was the final album recorded featuring any of the band's original members; the lead singer and primary songwriter Lou Reed left the band shortly before the album's release, and the guitarist Sterling Morrison and the drummer Maureen Tucker left the band in 1971.[2][3] For this reason, it is often considered by fans to be the last "true" Velvet Underground album.[4] The multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule remained and released the album Squeeze in 1973 before the band's dissolution the same year.