Iconic Steinway Played by Lady Gaga in ‘A Star is Born’ Destroyed in L.A. Wildfires

The distinctive walnut Steinway piano that Lady Gaga played in the movie A Star is Born and at the 2019 Academy Awards with Bradley Cooper was destroyed in the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles last month. After the piano was featured in the film, it was sold to a classical pianist named Susie Chung who had earned her doctorate in piano performance from the University of Southern California. She and her husband had been looking for months for a grand piano when a friend who worked at Steinway and Sons told them he had a Model B from the 1980s that was in their price range. He told them it had been in a movie but didn’t say which one. As soon as Chung sat down, she knew it was the one. “The sound was so beautiful,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “So powerful. It had just the right tone. And I loved how it looked.” Almost all grand pianos are white or black, but this one was wood-toned to match the studio that Gaga’s character Ally and Cooper’s Jackson share in A Star is Born. After the song “Shallow” from the film’s soundtrack was nominated for an Oscar, Gaga and Cooper were tapped to perform at the 2019 ceremony. Gaga requested the walnut grand from the film, and Chung and her husband got to watch the show rehearsal. In January, their Altadena home and its contents—including the piano—were destroyed in the Eaton Fire. When they saw the charred remains, Chung wept for her “perfect instrument.”