Lizzo made history on Tuesday (September 27) after the Library of Congress let her play a 200-year-old crystal flute originally owned by James Madison, during her concert in Washington, DC.
The Truth Hurts singer revealed she became the first person to play the musical instrument in two centuries as she treated fans to an impromptu performance.
Sharing the special moment on social media, the 34-year-old excitedly captioned the clip: “YALL.. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LET ME PLAY THEIR HISTORIC 200 YEAR OLD CRYSTAL FLUTE ON STAGE TONIGHT.
“NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE… NOW YOU DO.”
In the video, the Good As Hell hitmaker, who is a classically trained flautist, is seen in a shimmering bodysuit as she introduced the musical artefact, which belonged to the fourth president of the United States, on stage and shared some of its history.
As she walked across the stage to fetch the instrument, the star said: “This is crazy. I have to be really careful.
“This is from the early 1800s, this was a gift to James Madison from a French crystal-flute designer, to celebrate his second term.
“There was a fire… and the only two things that were saved were a portrait of George Washington and this crystal flute right here.
“I am the first person to ever play it so you’re about to hear what it sounds like for the first time.”
After playing a few notes, Lizzo enthusiastically added: “B****, I just twerked and played James Madison’s flute from the 1800s!”
“Thank you to the Library of Congress for preserving our history and making history cool. History is freaking cool, you guys!” she concluded, after handing back the crystal piece to a Library of Congress representative.
Still on a high from playing the historical instrument, the Juice songstress later shared another video to her Instagram.
She wrote alongside it: “YALL WE GOT A BETTER VIDEO — YEAH IM DOUBLE POSTING BUT IM THE FIRST & ONLY PERSON TO PLAY THIS PRESIDENTIAL CRYSTAL FLUTE ITS LITERALLY AN HEIRLOOM — LIKE… AS A FLUTE PLAYER THIS IS ICONIC AND I WILL NEVER BE OVER IT.”
Before her concert, Lizzo was invited by the Library of Congress to visit their flute archive, where the star was given the opportunity to play a couple of them.
According to Carla Diane Hayden, an American librarian and the 14th librarian of Congress, the Library of Congress “has the largest flute collection in the world, with more than 1,800”.
Lizzo is currently on her Special tour, which kicked off over the weekend in Florida and will finish in November.
