Elvis Presley's Piano

The instrument has also been played by many other legendary performers during the last seven decades outlined in the following history.

1930's to 1957:
Used in Memphis' Ellis Auditorium & Performance Hall from the early 1930's until replaced in 1957 when the facility was refurbished. The piano was played during this time period by such great musicians as WC Handy, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, and others.

1957:
Jack Marshall, owner of a music store in Memphis, obtains the piano. Elvis finds out about the piano and obtains it for his new home in Memphis, Graceland. Elvis has the Knabe Baby Grand refinished to is personal specifications and oversees the work on an almost daily basis. The work is performed at Jack Marshall's Music store because Elvis knows and trusts Jack Marshall, who is also the pianist for the Blackwood Brothers Gospel Quartet. Ron Blackwood, a member of the singing family and at the time a student in high school in Memphis, is hired by Jack Marshall to hand strip and refinish the piano for Elvis.

1965:
Elvis allows photographers from the Memphis newspaper into Graceland to photograph the interior of Graceland for the first and only time. During the session, Elvis was pictured several times standing at and playing this piano. Photos from this session have appeared in Memphis newspapers several times over the years.

1969 to 1976:
Priscilla gives Elvis a new gold-leafed piano for their anniversary. The White Knabe is put in storage.

1976 to 1981:
In 1976 Vernon Presley, in a house cleaning measure, sells the piano to Ted Sturges, owner of Sturges Recording Studio. Over the next five years, the piano is used during the recording of over fifty albums by various artists including Jerry Lee Lewis.

1981 to 1997:
Jimmy Velvet buys the piano and displays it in his museum until 1990, since then the piano has been in private ownership once more.