Watch Lizzo play 200-year-old presidential glass flute in concert
History is made every day in Washington D.C. I don’t just say that as a native Washingtonian myself – as the capital of the United States, important political decisions that have global ramifications are being made every single day in some part of the District. But yesterday, history was made in a way cooler way thanks to American pop star Lizzo.
Besides being a top-shelf singer, rapper, and number one hit-haver, Lizzo is also a badass flautist. The flute is an under-appreciated instrument in pop culture, usually reserved for the piercing high notes of an orchestra and the dulcet tones of Jethro Tull music. But Lizzo has made the flute cool again, and if you’ve seen her in concert, you know that she’s going to bust out a Ron Burgundy-worthy solo at some point during the show.
Last night, as Lizzo took the stage at Capitol One Arena in D.C., she was presented with the holy grail of flutes: an ornate crystal instrument made in 1813 specifically for then-president James Madison. Madison didn’t play the flute (or really have a taste for music at all, for the matter), but the priceless instrument was saved from the fire that burned The White House to the ground in 1814.
According to the Library of Congress, Lizzo actually got to try the flute out a day before the concert under the Library’s jurisdiction. Carla Hayden, the official librarian of Congress, tweeted an invitation for Lizzo to come visit and try out some of the more than 1,800 flutes in the Library’s collection. Of course, Lizzo honed in on the legendary crystal flute and even got permission to break the silence rules put in place to test out the instrument.
The next night, handlers bestowed the flute onto Lizzo briefly while she was onstage. The singer urged the crowd to be patient since “it’s like playing out of a wine glass,” but managed to get a couple of crystal-clear notes out of the 200+-year-old artefact. Lizzo even got some twerking in as she trilled on the instrument, excitedly telling the audience, “Bitch, I just twerked and played James Madison’s crystal flute from the 1800s! We just made history tonight!”
“It’s not often you see founding father’s personal artifacts reclaimed as a symbol of pop culture and a celebration [of] Black female empowerment,” Hayden told NPR. “It was so uniquely a moment that could only happen in D.C. and … the audience took pride in that.”
And so history was made. The moment didn’t seem lost on Lizzo either, who seemed awestruck as she took the flute to the microphone. After giving the instrument a quick run, the singer enthusiastically told the crowd that, “History is freaking cool, you guys!” It is indeed, Lizzo.
Check out Lizzo’s brief playing of James Madison’s priceless 1813 flute down below.
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