LATEST: Pop idol GEORGE MICHAEL will hand over his historic JOHN LENNON piano to a BEATLES museum - but not until he has played it on his new album.

Michael bought the instrument, on which the former Beatle composed the peace anthem IMAGINE, at an auction in London earlier this week (17OCT00) for $2.1 million (£1.45 million). And George says, "Having paid one-and-a-half million pounds for it, I'd really like to play something on it and stick it on my next record. "So as I'm recording right now I think I'll hold on to it for a couple of months and see if I can get it on to my new record and then it's going back to the museum in Liverpool where I think it rightly belongs. "For it to have ended up in some Japanese investment portfolio would have been tragic."

The upright STEINWAY piano had been displayed at Liverpool, England's BEATLES STORY MUSEUM since February (00) and curator SHELAGH JOHNSTON had hoped it could be retained there.

(JM/WNWCAN)

Source: WENN