Piano licked by Miley Cyrus auctioned for $50,000

Singer Miley Cyrus licked a piano, which was then put up for auction and went on to sell for $50,000

The "Wrecking Ball" hitmaker agreed to help Linda Perry sell off the instrument, which was donated by "Orange is the New Black" star Ruby Rose, at the LGBT Center's Vanguard Awards gala here. She made a special effort to make the lot more enticing by adorning it with her own saliva.

It was eventually picked up by a lucky bidder for a staggering $50,000, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Later in the evening, Cyrus was "beyond grateful" to be presented with the Vanguard Award by staff members from the LGBT Centre and members of her own Happy Hippy Foundation.

"I want all of you to know that I feel beyond grateful to be in a room full of so many people who care so much about others because unfortunately that is way too rare in the world that we live in today," she said.

"I'm thinking of tonight not as celebrating what we've already done but what we're doing and what we're going to do in the future," she added.

Actress and fitness guru Jane Fonda was also honoured for her work with the LGBT community at the gala, and picked up her accolade from her "Grace and Frankie" co-star Lily Tomlin.