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Linda Ronstadt is selling her Yamaha piano. It was formerly owned by Peter Asher, and has been played by a number of big name stars. The starting price is reasonable. Other memorabilia is also coming up for auction.

Gee, the bidding is already going up. I didn’t know Linda Ronstadt was retired after Parkinson’s Disease. That is a terrible shame. She always had an incredible voice.

It's G2 from 1974...

Yeah, but famous hineys warmed that embroidered bench.

I wonder how many different models of Yamaha there were in 1974 ? Perhaps in 1974 the piano was still made in Japan ? Was there a C series then ?

One can but guess at her motivation. I hope, because I have really loved her for a long time, that she wishes that it will go to someone who will appreciate it... not because she cannot bear to look at it and be reminded of what is lost to her. Or, because she is broke, and has to.

I would say that the gold, that she is, does not depend on one quality or ability. Her radiance will find some other mode of expression.

There is one song, on a James Taylor album from back in the seventies, that she just sang the briefest little top harmony, on the choruses. "Bartender's Blues," which, matter of fact, actually plays rather well on the piano, although covering the vocal range is murder. A jukebox song. Well produced, good things to hear from every performer, and throw the engineer in for good measure. But hers is the voice I have taken with me. I don't know how she does it; how does she steal the song out from under all those seasoned pro's, with just a few little notes. All this time later, it still reminds me of why my heart beats on.

I too really like Linda Ronstadt. She's had quite a career as a stellar singer, musician and entertainer, and, she started young, and paid her dues and climbed the ladder of musical success.

I saw a documentary on PBS about her, and other singers/musicians/entertainers. The documentary talked about how she performed a lot at the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood Ca. early in her career, which is where many budding performers, musicians and singers garnered their popularity in the music/entertainment business.

She wrote or co-wrote many great songs, but I think my favorite was "When will I be loved".

Back to her Yamaha G2, I'm sure it will sell, and at a good price.

I wish her well in her golden years.

Rick

I don't understand the value of a used piano "going up" simply because it was owned by a celebrity. It certainly doesn't make the piano any better as an instrument.

Regards,

Na but it's not about the instrument in that case, it's about the connection to the celebrity and there has always been a market for those kinds of relics.

Personally I couldn't be bothered owning, I dunno, I scarf that brushed against Rudolf Valentino or something like that, but there will always be those who want to buy and sell that stuff.

Recently there came up for sale an Erard concert grand piano, French made, and it was signed by Paderewski on the occasion he played the same piano in concert in Dundee, Scotland. The piano was for sale for about £5000 down in the south of England, and we'd tried to buy the piano for the city to have it in the local concert hall as a show piece (not as a performance instrument...), but lockdowns happened and the piano was sold before we could get to it. That to me is more interesting because of the connection to local history and an international musical and political celebrity, but more than that I couldn't really be bothered.

"Storytelling" is a major winning sales tactic, especially when you can prove it.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

Linda was incredibly talented and could sing literally anything (she was a true soprano, sang a great version of Pirates of Penzance), however, she was not a songwriter. "When Will I Be Loved" was written by Phil Everly. She seemed drawn to the songs of Jimmy Webb and Karla Bonoff, another talented writer.

The documentary "The Sound of My Voice" is a worthy watch for any music lover. I recall in an interview, when asked how she deals with the loss of her voice, she replied, "Radical acceptance". She is an incredible woman.

Way back in the day, I was working retail in a Western Boot Store. They had a radio and speakers tuned to CW music all day, everyday. I was rock and roll but did learn to two step and waltz but just hated when a country band would cover a rock and roll standard. The one band that my CW friends and I could agree on was the Eagles. About that time I think Anne Murray came out with a shortened version of the Eagles song “Desperado” written by Don Henley and Glenn Frye. My friends were over the moon with Anne Murray’s version. Then I played for them Linda Ronstadt’s version of that ballad. What a voice!!! Linda again knocked it out of the park with Blue Bayou.

I’m not into star memorabilia or signed pianos or vehicles but if I had the room I might just buy that G2 for the many talented musicians that played it. Too bad I cant channel any of that talent when playing that Yamaha.

Okay. Well, I stand corrected. I assumed she wrote some of the songs she recorded, many of which were big hits.

As for the value of items belonging to celebrities, there are some people that will pay more, and a lot more, depending on the celebrity, I suppose.

I remember when I was a moderator here, the son of the late Howard Goodman, of the "Happy Goodman Family", the famous Southern Gospel Music group, joined PW and his first post was a thread about selling his dad's Baldwin R baby grand piano.

Of course, I had to tell him that it was against the rules here on PW to post a for sale ad on the open forums, but he could post an ad in the classified ad/pianos for sale section here on Piano World. I'm sure he was just not aware of the PW rules, but I think that was his one and only post here, if I recall correctly. Actually, here is the thread: https://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthre...waters-grand-special-grammys-family.html

Rick

Want a shock? look up sales prices for guitars of famous players. I think a bunch of David Gilmore’s guitars recently sold for insane prices.

As everyone who has ever stopped by the forum to ask about rescuing their inherited, but otherwise unremarkable, family piano will tell you, provenance can sometimes be everything.

When Horowitz's D came to Chicago I had to play it. Not because it was a tonally remarkable D (it wasn't, and wasn't set up to Horowitz's specifications anymore), but simply because it was Horowitz's. Had to play it.

Larry.

I think an instrument can be a moving historical "place". Years ago at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I had the chance to see Elton John's old piano while it was on loan. Old, like when he still lived with his parents old and the piano he used to write the music to his first albums and all the studio demos for Dick James Music when he and Bernie Taupin first started writing. Just because someone famous owned an instrument I don't think makes it special but when it has a specific history within their career like that then I think it is.

Looks like it sold for $35,000.

Include me in the group that's only marginally impressed by this sort of provenance. It can be intriguing, but I wouldn't pay much for it. Same goes for autographed instruments (which I wouldn't pay for at all).

Funny, when I first saw this post the other day I confused Ronstadt with Pat Benatar. Someone on FaceBook had posted a link to a video of MTV's first two hours on air, and Benatar was one of the first videos played, so I guess her name was sort of on my mind.

We didn't even have cable when MTV first came out, so I thought I'd check it out. I could only take about 20 minutes. Even in the background... So primitive, so hokey, and so pretentious, all at the same time.

Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, and many of the people who played that piano like James Taylor were before MTV. I’m glad the piano sold for a decent price for Linda. I never really was a Pat Benatar fan.

re the price it sold for ($35,000) I don't have any context for that number. Obviously, it's an amazing price for a piano that would otherwise sell for maybe $6000 (being a G2 from 1974).

But how much do other instruments classified as memorabilia usually sell for?

Hey, come on. We can't even agree here what normal instruments sell for let alone ones 'classified as memorabilia' :-)

That said my guess is that there is no answer and it depends entirely on how much memorabilia collectors value the individual item's history rather than the item itself. I think your question is a bit like asking how much a postage stamp is worth without specifying anything about the stamp which gets the answer 'anything from nothing to an exceedingly stupid amount of money'.