Marshall managing director Jon Ellery has seen off bidders from around the world to secure George Michael’s Bechstein Model S baby grand piano at auction. The price? A whopping £200k.
The piano was donated by Michael’s family and estate and auctioned off to raise money for Nordoff Robbins, the music therapy charity that the former Wham! singer supported throughout his life. MIchael died on Christmas Day in 2016.
Recently restored, the piano previously resided at Michael’s home in Highgate, London, but will now move to Marshall Studio, the amp manufacturer’s state-of-the-art recording facility that’s located at its headquarters in Milton Keynes.
“It’s going to be something really special because we have a really amazing recording studio, so to have that and for the people who will be coming through there over the next ten years… it will be incredible,” Ellery told the Sunday Express.
“It is important that we bring it into a working studio to carry on playing it like George Michael used it.”
A deluxe, limited-edition boxset of Michael’s 1996 album Older is set for release on Friday (8 July).
