Lizzo is an appreciator of history, even as she continues to make it. Tuesday night (September 27) at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., she played a two-century-old crystal flute gifted by French craftsman Claude Laurent to James Madison — the fourth president of the United States of America — in 1813 to honor his second inauguration. According to a tweet from Lizzo (embedded above), she’s the “FIRST & ONLY PERSON TO EVER PLAY THIS PRESIDENTIAL 200-YEAR-OLD FLUTE.”
The rare confluence of antebellum U.S. political history and contemporary pop culture came about when Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress, invited Lizzo to come play the flute (which is housed at the Library) on the D.C. stop of her Special tour. “The @librarycongress has the largest flute collection in the world with more than 1,800,” Hayden tweeted this past Friday (September 23). “It incl[udes] Pres James Madison’s 1813 crystal flute. @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.’😉”
Lizzo took note of the message and responded with a quote tweet the following day: “I’M COMING CARLA! AND I’M PLAYING THAT CRYSTAL FLUTE!!!!!”
On stage at the Capitol One Arena, a Library of Congress rep passed Lizzo the flute, which the “About Damn Time” singer handled delicately. “Bitch I’m scared,” she told the crowd before lifting the instrument to her lips and playing one tentative note. “It’s crystal — it’s like playing out of a wine glass, bitch, so be patient.”
Her hesitation quickly evaporated, though, as she returned to the same note, holding it longer this time and with tremolo, and also twerking. “Bitch, I just twerked and played James Madison’s crystal flute from the 1800s!,” she exclaimed upon handing the storied woodwind back to the Library rep. “We just made history tonight. Thank you to the Library of Congress for preserving our history, and making history fricking cool. History is fricking cool, you guys.”
