| The
piano on which John Lennon composed his classic hit Imagine is
to tour global sites of past violence to promote peace.
The upright piano, now
owned by George Michael, will this week be photographed at the
US site of Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968.
There are plans for a
tour documentary and photo album in aid of charity.
Imagine was a UK number
one following Lennon's assassination in 1980. Michael bought the
piano for £1.67m in 2000.
The piano will be
photographed in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday, the 39th
anniversary of the shooting of the civil rights leader.
The site is now home to
the US's National Civil Rights Museum.
"The selection of
this site evokes a deep sense of emotion for everyone,"
George Michael said.
"Capturing the image
of this special piano on which a song of peace was composed is
part of the heartbeat of this project."
The title song of
Lennon's 1971 album Imagine has become the most famous song of
his post-Beatles career and an enduring peace anthem.
Video from the recording
sessions shows Lennon using the piano to play Imagine to his
musicians, the Plastic Ono Band, for the first time.
The Steinway Model Z
upright piano, made in Hamburg, was bought by Lennon in London
in December 1970.
A white grand piano
famously is featured on the album cover and in the video for
Imagine. |
