ABBA's piano goes under the hammer

The brown grand piano played by Swedish disco pop band ABBA during the 70s will be auctioned in London on September 29, Sotheby's said Thursday (27.08.2015). It could sell for between 600,000 and 800,000 pounds ($925,000-$1.24 million), according to the auction house.

The opening glissando in their hit "Dancing Queen" is one of the most famous piano passages recorded on the instrument. "The piano itself is an instrument of real importance and with the added ABBA provenance, we expect it will have worldwide appeal," said Philip W. Errington from Sotheby's.

Currently owned by Stockholm's Metronome Studios where the band frequently recorded, the piano was originally built by Swedish instrument maker Georg Bolin - not for ABBA, but for American jazz pianist Bill Evans.

After Metronome Studios purchased the grand piano in 1967, it was used on most of the band's recordings from 1973 to 1977, including mega hits like "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo,""SOS," "Mamma Mia," and others.

According to Errington, it is difficult to predict the selling price because little ABBA memorabilia has never been auctioned. However, other famous pianos have fetched enormous sums: George Michael bought John Lennon's upright piano for 1.67 million pounds in 2000, and the piano played in the film classic "Casablanca" sold for $3.4 million in 2014.

ABBA broke up in 1982 after rising to world fame over the previous decade.

kbm/eg (AFP, AP)