A Single Man

A Single Man, released in 1978 though the Rocket Record Company in the United Kingdom and MCA records in the United States, is the twelfth studio album by English glam rock artist Elton John. The album marks a number of firsts for John: it’s his first album to feature no lyrical contributions from Bernie Taupin (instead featuring Gary Osbourne, as John and Taupin parted ways due to John’s temporary retirement from live shows), his first album since his debut to not be produced by Gus Dudgeon, and most significantly, the first album by a western artist to be officially released in the Soviet Union.

The latter distinction came after John played two residency shows in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in May 1979: one at the Bolshoi Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in Leningrad and one at the Rossiya Concert Hall in Moscow. The following year, Soviet authorities gave the USSR’s state-administered record label, Melodiya, permission to press the album for audiences behind the Iron Curtain. Audio from these shows would eventually be featured on the Record Store Day 2019 live album Live from Moscow 1979.