Leather Jackets (album)

Leather Jackets is the twentieth studio album by British musician Elton John. It was released on 27 October 1986 through Geffen Records in the US and The Rocket Record Company in all other territories. The album is the last of John's to be produced by Gus Dudgeon and includes both newly recorded material and outtakes from John's previous album Ice on Fire (1985).

Recording of the album coincided with a period of personal turmoil for John, including a worsening addiction to cocaine and vocal struggles caused by polyps on John's vocal cords, which would be removed through surgery in 1987, deepening John's voice in the process.

Upon release, Leather Jackets was a critical and commercial failure. The album stalled at number 91 in the US, making it the lowest-charting studio album of John's career, and was his first since Tumbleweed Connection (1970) to not contain a top 40 hit. Reviews have been largely negative, and John himself has called the album the worst of his career. Two years later, John reacted to the album's failure with Reg Strikes Back (1988), a self-proclaimed "comeback" album which was much more successful.