Sophia Michaels
But could James Madison twerk like that? While performing in Washington, D.C. Tuesday night, Lizzo was handed the prized crystal flute of the Founding Father and was allowed to play a few notes during her live show at the Capitol One Arena. The “heirloom” had never been played before — until Lizzo.
“I’m 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,” Lizzo wrote on Instagram sharing a video of the moment. “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.”
The historic moment came several days after the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden tweeted an invitation to have Lizzo stop by the Library to see “the largest flute collection in the world.” She wrote at the time, “Lizzo, we would love for you to come see it and even play a couple when you are in DC next week. Like your song they are ‘Good as hell.’”
Mid-show, Lizzo spoke about her exciting experience visiting the Library of Congress, saying that they let her play “so many beautiful flutes that were archived and old.”
“Make some noise for James Madison’s crystal flute y’all. We got the Capitol police and the secret service and everybody in this bitch,” she said.
Lizzo then told the story about the flute: it was gifted to Madison in the early 1800s by a French flute designer to celebrate his second inauguration. “There was a fire when he was away, and the only things that were saved were the portrait of George Washington and this crystal flute right here,” she said before being handed the flute.
Lizzo then played a note before doing her signature flute-playin’ while twerkin’.
The “About Damn Time” singer’s show in D.C. is just the third of her Special Tour, which she announced back in April. She’s being accompanied by Latto and is set to end her tour in mid-November at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum.
According to NPR, the flute may have been one of a handful of things that former First Lady Dolley Madison took from the White House after British troops set fire to D.C. in 1814.
