Pop singer Lizzo played the famous crystal flute belonging to the fourth President of the United States James Madison. The Lizzo played the 200-year-old flute during her performance at the Library of Congress, Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C.

Lizzo is an accomplished flutist, and she plays the flute during most of her stage performances. However, instead of the regular metal flute she uses, Lizzo bought the famed crystal flute belonging to former presidents Madison. Before playing the glass-made instrument, the Truth Hurts singer said it felt like she was playing out of a glass of wine.

According to reports, the famed crystal flute was designed and created by French aristocrat Claude Laurent, who gifted it to Madison in 1813. The Library of Congress states that 185 glass flutes created by Laurent have survived, while the crystal ones are even rarer. The official library also estimates that the crystal flute Lizzo played at the event was among the few belongings.

The lost and found tale of a USD 22,000 flute

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Gold and silver flute

Donald Rabin, a 23-year-old Boston-based flutist, was riding a Blue Line train from O'Hare International Airport during a layover before his return to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. When he got off, he realized he'd left behind his gold and silver flute worth USD 22,000, which was left to him by his grandmother.

Search attempts

Rabin said he rode the train for hours in hopes of finding the flute. When he came up empty, he reported the missing instrument to police and took to social media to tell people about what happened.

Becoming a collateral

According to the Chicago Tribune, a CNN reporter told Rabin as he was about to fly out of Chicago that there was a comment on Facebook about the flute showing up in a pawn shop, that a homeless man had found it and used it as collateral for a USD 550 loan.

News of the missing flute

The pawnshop owner, Gabe Cocanate, was holding onto the flute, trying to determine if it was as valuable as it looked, when he and his wife saw the story of the missing flute on the news. So when the homeless man returned to the shop, he told him, "Listen man, it's been all over the news. It's not your flute."

The odds in favour

Police picked up the flute and contacted Rabin, who flew back to Chicago this week, retrieved it and treated officers to a brief concert. Rabin knew the odds of ever seeing something so valuable ever again. And yet, he said: "For some reason, I knew in my heart and soul it would be found. I knew my grandmother would never leave me.”

The official librarian, Carla Hayden, had requested Lizzo to check out the Library’s opulent collection of flutes, to which the popstar agreed. Lizzo was in D.C. for her tour and decided to give it a shot. Prior to Tuesday’s event, the singer tried the crystal flute on Monday at the Library’s flute vault.

FAQs

When was the crystal flute created?
The crystal flute was created by Claude Laurent, a Parisian aristocrat, in 1813.
Who was James Madison?
James Madison was the fourth president of the United States.

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Lizzo opens up on playing James Madison's 200-year-old crystal flute. Here’s what she said

At the invitation of Carla Hayden, Lizzo tried the glass flute at the flute vault before playing it during her performance on Tuesday.