A guitar played by George Michael in the video for his 1987 hit Faith sold for £234,480 at auction in the UK on Thursday, October 29, 2026, far exceeding expectations. The buyer, who remains anonymous and is based in the UK, placed the winning bid online.
The sale, conducted by the auction house Sworders, drew attention for more than the price. The instrument came from the collection of Michael's former personal assistant Siobhan Bailey, who died in 2014, and her family had publicly objected to the auction going ahead in her name, according to RTE.ie.
A Gift From One Friend to Another
Michael gave the guitar to Ms Bailey as a gift, according to her brother Gerard Bailey, because he 'thought so much of her.' She worked as his personal assistant for 20 years, a stretch that covered the whole arc of his solo career and his final years with Wham!.
In the Faith video, Michael strums the guitar dressed in a black leather jacket and blue jeans, an image that helped define his post-Wham! identity as a solo star. The song gave its name to the album Faith, which confirmed him as one of the biggest pop performers of his generation.
The Family Row Behind the Sale
The auction did not pass quietly. Ahead of the sale, Gerard Bailey told the BBC that the archive had been offered for auction by Ms Bailey's widower, Ian Belcher, and that his sister 'would be horrified at the prospect of the auction being held in her name and that her personal, cherished possessions are being sold off to the highest bidder.'
Ms Bailey was in the process of divorcing Mr Belcher but was still legally married to him when she died, and she did not leave a will. Under those circumstances, the collection passed to him as her spouse. Mr Bailey said he accepted that Mr Belcher had the legal right to sell the items, but he claimed his sister had been drafting a will before her death that would have left the items to her nieces and nephews.
In a letter to the auction house, seen by the BBC, Mr Bailey described the sale as a 'breach of his sister's privacy' and called the use of her name in the marketing 'disingenuous.' He asked for the sale to be stopped, or at minimum for the lots to be listed in Mr Belcher's name rather than hers.
A spokesperson for Sworders responded to the dispute in measured terms.
We are not well-placed to comment on a family matter, but such disputes are not uncommon in the auction business. In this case, as the BBC article makes clear, the legal title of the collection is not in question.
The auction house said Mr Belcher was unavailable for comment.
What Else Was in the Auction
The guitar was the headline lot, but the sale reached across Michael's entire working life. It included ring-bound tour itineraries from his solo years and from his time in Wham!, along with memorabilia from some of his most celebrated live performances.
Among the lots was a four-page running order from Live Aid in 1985, the Wembley benefit concert that made global stars of dozens of acts. The document features Michael's duet with Elton John on Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, a performance that remains one of the most replayed moments of that day.
The sale also offered a gold disc recognising 500,000 UK sales of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, estimated at between £200 and £500, along with rare cassettes and acetate singles, some marked 'Not For Sale,' and a set of signed photographs, all personally inscribed to Ms Bailey.
Guy Schooling, chairman of Sworders, said the sale 'will offer avid fans around the globe the chance to own not just pieces of music history, but objects that capture the spirit and ambition of one of pop's greatest and most-loved artists.'
An Artist Who Stood for Something
Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in north London to a Greek Cypriot father, had 13 number one singles in the UK across his career. He came out as gay in 1998, at a time when few performers of his stature did so, and spent the rest of his life as an activist for LGBT rights and a fundraiser for HIV and Aids charities.
He died of heart disease on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53. In the years since, his reputation has only grown, both for the music and for the quiet generosity that emerged in the tributes paid by those who knew him, AOL reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did George Michael's Faith guitar sell for?
The guitar sold for £234,480 at Sworders auction house on Thursday, October 29, 2026, exceeding pre-sale expectations. The buyer was an anonymous UK-based bidder participating online.
Who owned the guitar before the auction?
The guitar belonged to Siobhan Bailey, George Michael's personal assistant for 20 years, who received it as a gift from the singer. She died in 2014, and the collection passed to her widower, Ian Belcher, who offered it for auction.
Why did the auction cause a family dispute?
Ms Bailey's family, led by her brother Gerard, objected to the sale being held in her name, calling it a breach of her privacy. They said she had been drafting a will to leave the items to her nieces and nephews before her death, but she died without a will and the items legally passed to her husband.