UK single release: Instant Karma! by John Lennon

‘Instant Karma!’, John Lennon’s first solo single, was released in the UK on 6 February 1970.

It was Lennon’s third non-Beatles single release, and followed the Plastic Ono Band’s ‘Give Peace A Chance’ and ‘Cold Turkey’.

‘Instant Karma!’ entered the UK singles charts on 21 February, and peaked at number five. In all it spent nine weeks on the charts.

The b-side of the single was an acoustic ballad, ‘Who Has Seen The Wind?’ It was written by Yoko Ono, produced by Lennon, and recorded privately. The label had ‘PLAY QUIET’ printed in large type, in contrast to the a-side’s ‘PLAY LOUD’.

Its US release came two weeks later, on 20 February 1970. It was issued as APPLES 1818. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

Instant Karma! was the first solo single by a former member of The Beatles to sell more than a million copies in America.