According to CheatSheet, though Carey took piano lessons as a child, she didn’t stick with the instrument, and can’t read sheet music. Though audio exists of her tapping on the keys of Monroe’s piano, she just plays a simple scale as a demonstration (via YouTube).
Carey bought the piano for $662,500 in 1999 from a Christie’s auction. In her autobiography, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” Carey says that it’s her most valuable artwork. Carey, like Monroe, suffered from a lot of instability in her childhood — in her memoir, she claims she suffered awful abuse from family members. This shared experience is ultimately why she wanted to buy Monroe’s piano. “I imagine when your childhood was fraught with insecurity and fear like Marilyn’s and like mine, the romance of those lost happy hours is extremely valuable,” Carey wrote in her memoir (via The Marilyn Report).
