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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted Saturday that he's "elated" to now own the piano John Lennon used to compose songs for The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.
The piano, made in the 1870s, was auctioned on the site GottaHaveRockandRoll.com. The site estimated it would sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million. As of Saturday night, the final price tag had not been announced, though the website TMZ said it was $718,750.
"I’m elated to now be the steward of John’s “Sgt. Pepper” upright piano. It’s a responsibility I take seriously, with future generations in mind," Irsay said in his tweet.
GottaHaveRockandRoll.com said the painted piano had been in two homes Lennon lived in in England while composing songs for "Sgt. Pepper's," which came out in 1967. According to the website, songs he wrote on the piano included "A Day in the Life" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
Irsay is a longtime rock memorabilia collector. In 2016, he paid $137,500 to purchase the Yellow Cloud electric guitar that Prince used in numerous concerts until the mid-1990s.
Irsay also has instruments once owned by musicians Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and Ringo Star of the Beatles. In 2015, he paid $1.75 million for Ringo Starr's drum set.
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