Elton John says Russian President Vladimir Putin called him after the singer asked for a meeting to talk about gay rights.
Last week, the singer criticized an anti-gay Russian law and a suggestion by Putin last year that gay people prey on children. John told the BBC that he wanted a meeting to discuss Putin’s “ridiculous” gay rights record.
On Tuesday, John posted on Instagram that he got a call. There was no word on whether the Kremlin had agreed to the meeting.
John played in the Soviet Union in 1979 and regularly plays in Russia. He was in Ukraine last week and called for that country to improve its gay rights record, too.
Erin McClam is a senior writer for NBC News, responsible for reporting, writing and editing general news for NBCNews.com. Prior to joining the site in January 2013, McClam worked at The Associated Press, where he spent 13 years and was most recently financial markets editor. In that role, McClam was responsible for a team of five reporters and a deputy editor that covered the stock and bond markets, financial regulation and the nation's largest banks.
Prior to that role, McClam held a variety of jobs at AP, including being a national correspondent and an original member of its Top Stories Desk editing operation.
McClam lives in New York.
The Associated Press contributed.
