The famous piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine" in 1971 is being sent to Huntsville, TX by superstar musician George Michael and will be photographed at the Texas State Penitentiary to bring attention to the growing use of the death penalty in Texas and nationwide on the day of James Lee Clark's execution. The symbolic image will also serve as a condemnation of Clark's act of violence against the innocent.
The death penalty centers around the heart of the piano peace project, that the death penalty an act of violence, is not the answer to another person's act of violence. The goal of the project is to one day see a world of peace, a world without violence.
Michael and his partner, Kenny Goss, owner of Goss Gallery in Dallas, plan to have the piano photographed at significant locations in the United States and across the world where horrific acts of violence have taken place in order to spread the message of peace. A video documentary and a published volume of these iconic images are under development with plans to donate proceeds to charity.
George Michael bought the piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine", considered the most expensive piece of pop memorabilia, at an auction in October 2000. The piano is considered priceless. However, some experts have put its value at US$8 million to $12 million.
The song, Imagine, was first released in 1971 and was already John Lennon's most famous post-Beatles song, but it took on a whole new life of its own following Lennon's murder in December 1980. When first released, "Imagine" reached No. 3 in America and No. 6 in Britain but after Lennon's death in December 1980, the song gave him a posthumous No. 1.
Lennon bought the piano in December 1970, had it delivered to studios at his home in Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire, composed and recorded "Imagine" on it. The piano is a simple upright style instrument, not the white piano which graced the cover of the album. In 1992, it was bought by a private British collector who put it up for auction in October 2000.
