Alicia Keys, Elton John … and Joe from the Guardian: why they’ve all played the St Pancras piano

Who doesn’t love a station piano? They spread joy to the people – especially when a music megastar drops by to boost their social media

“Enjoy this piano – it’s a gift!” When Elton John played a brief piano medley of his hits on the concourse of St Pancras railway station in 2016 – pausing to scribble a brief message on the instrument which, he announced, he was donating to the station – he can’t have known what he had started.

In the years since, the upright black Yamaha, still bearing the singer’s message and autograph, has been played by many thousands of people passing through the central London station – and a stampede of well known faces too, including Jools Holland, John Legend, Tom Odell and Jeff Goldblum.