The former First Lady and her family grew up on the south side of Chicago in the top half of an apartment block. The apartment block, known as a “duplex” in the US was owned by her mother’s aunt Robbie.
Her aunt Robbie was a piano teacher and ended up teaching the future FLOTUS the skill.
Michelle’s father had hoped to become an artist but he did not have the money for college.
He also had “no model of what that sort of life looked like”.
Her father decided to join the army instead of becoming an artist then took a job tending the boilers at the city water plant.
Unfortunately, he died at the age of 55 from MS.
As a child she took piano lessons from her aunt on her old piano where she knew how to recognise a middle C because of a crack in the key.
However, when she gave her first recital on a small grand piano at Roosevelt University, she panicked.
All the keys on the piano were perfect and so she couldn’t remember where the middle C was.
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“It really set me on a course.”
In 2012, she created a special state dinner designed for children.
She added: “Whether it was a music event, or whether it was the state dinner, during that earlier part of the day we’d have a companion event with young kids from around the country.
“They could eat the food as well and meet the entertainers.”
It comes as Michelle and Ellen DeGeneres will be headlining a special event next year.
TV host Ellen will be headlining an event in Salt Lake City, Utah with the former FLOTUS.
Both women have visited the state before on separate occasions but it will be their first time together in the city.
The prominent figures will both be headlining local tech company Qualtrics’ annual user conference in March.
Michelle previously headlined Pluralsight’s user conference in September 2017.
While Ellen spoke at the tech company’s conference in August this year.
Now, both women will be attending the event as Qualtrics’ guests.