At first glance, it seems like any other fine ebonised Bechstein grand put up for auction. Yet this instrument, included in Bonhams’ Sale of Pianos at 101 New Bond Street on 4 April, represents a special and unique slice of pop history. Dave Stewart, of Eurythmics fame, is to sell the piano which stood in the famous Church Studios, Crouch End, for more than 20 years since he first recorded there with Annie Lennox in 1982.

This piano can be heard on literally hundreds of recordings made over the last two decades, and was used by such iconic stars as Eurasure, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Dido, who also composed upon it. This slice of pop music history is also accompanied by a note signed by Dave Stewart:

“I have watched this Bechstein piano being played by so many Legends from Bob Dylan, Jodi Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry and of course Annie who played it all the time. The Eurythmics wrote many songs in the church and this Bechstein Grand Piano was often used in the song writing process and appears on many of our albums. The Church Studios was a very active studio having so many amazing diverse artists/ bands record
their music from Oasis to Dido’s last two albums before I sold it to David Gray last year as his personal studio. Since then the piano was at my home in Surrey and used on recordings with artists like Gwen Stefani and Joss Stone literally right up to the week we sold the house to move to the USA.”

The extraordinary history of this piano looks set to attract a great deal of interest from the world of contemporary and popular music, and it is thought that it may reach far beyond its conservative estimate of £3,000 – 5,000.

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For more details visit the Bonhams web site.