George Michael’s Faith guitar fetches £234,480 amid family dispute over auction
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
George Michael’s Faith guitar has sold at auction for £234,480 including fees, despite a family dispute over the sale. Bailey’s brother said she would have wanted the memorabilia to remain with her family and objected to the auction being promoted in her name.
Michael gave the Gretsch guitar to his personal assistant Siobhan Bailey, who worked for him for 20 years from 1984. She died in 2014 while divorcing Ian Belcher, who inherited the items because she had no registered will; the guitar, estimated at £60,000 to £120,000, fetched a £180,000 hammer price. Other lots included signed photographs, Michael’s Live Aid running order and an annotated itinerary from Wham!’s 1985 China tour; the auction house said legal ownership was not in question.
- Sources
- 2
- Outlets
- 2
- Left · Centre · Right
- 0 · 0 · 1
In short
- George Michael’s Faith guitar sold for £234,480 including fees.
- His former assistant’s brother objected to the auction.
- The sale also included photographs and Wham! memorabilia.
How this story developed
- 1 hour ago Bailey’s brother said she had started preparing a will to leave the collection to her nieces and nephews, but it was never registered before her death in 2014.
- 1 hour ago George Michael’s Faith guitar sold for £234,480 including fees despite objections from Siobhan Bailey’s family, who said she would have wanted the memorabilia to stay with them.
Full account
A guitar played by George Michael in the video for his 1987 hit ‘Faith’ sold at auction for £234,480, including fees. Its hammer price was £180,000, well above the estimate of £60,000 to £120,000. The Gretsch instrument was sold with its original case to a UK-based buyer.
The sale was part of an auction of memorabilia from Siobhan Bailey, Michael’s personal assistant for 20 years from 1984. Michael gave her the guitar, along with other items in the collection, which included signed photographs, gold and platinum records, tour programmes and letters. Among the other lots were a Wham! gold disc, a Queen EP signed by the band and owned by Michael, and material from Wham!’s 1985 China tour.
The auction prompted objections from Bailey’s brother, Gerard, who said his sister died in 2014 without a registered will while she and her husband, Ian Belcher, were in the process of divorcing. As they were still married, Belcher inherited the memorabilia and arranged for it to be sold. Gerard said Bailey had begun preparing a will and intended to leave the items to her nieces and nephews. He argued that she would have wanted them to stay with her family and objected to the auction being presented in her name.
Gerard asked the auction house to identify Belcher as the seller instead, describing the use of his sister’s name as a misuse of it. He did not dispute that Belcher had the right to sell the items, but said the family would not have sold them. Auctioneer Guy Schooling told Guitarist that Belcher wanted to sell because the items could not remain in a garage indefinitely and might deteriorate. The reports differ in emphasis: the BBC account foregrounds the family’s dispute and the guitar’s final price, while the second report gives more detail about other auction results and the auctioneer’s explanation.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The BBC report gives the guitar’s final price as £234,480 including fees and notes that it sold to a UK-based buyer; the second report gives the £180,000 hammer price and does not state the buyer’s location.
The BBC report describes Gerard Bailey’s objections and says he did not suggest Belcher lacked the right to sell. The second report adds his letter to the auction house and quotes the auctioneer’s explanation that the items might deteriorate in storage.
The second report lists results for several other lots, including a Wham! gold disc, a Queen EP and an award from Malaga City Council; the BBC report highlights the China tour itinerary and other memorabilia.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The auction can be defended on the basis that the guitar was legally owned by Bailey’s husband, and the auction house said its ownership was not in question. Selling it also made a piece of music history available to a buyer and the public, while bringing a substantial sum from an item whose value had risen far above its estimate.
The case against
Bailey’s family can reasonably argue that the sale conflicts with her apparent wishes: she was reportedly preparing a will to leave the memorabilia to her nieces and nephews while separating from her husband. Although that will was never registered, selling the guitar without honouring what the family understood to be her intentions may feel unfair and deprive them of an object with personal as well as historical significance.
Explained simply
George Michael was a British singer who first became famous as one half of pop duo Wham! before finding success as a solo artist. His 1987 album Faith included the hit song of the same name, and the Gretsch guitar he played became closely associated with that period of his career.
Michael gave the guitar to Siobhan Bailey, his personal assistant for 20 years. After Bailey died in 2014 without a registered will, her former husband, Ian Belcher, inherited her belongings; her brother has said she wanted the memorabilia to stay with her family.
The guitar and other items from Michael’s career are valuable both as collectibles and as pieces of music history. The disagreement over the sale centres on Bailey’s wishes and who should control the memorabilia, while the auction house says the legal ownership is clear.
Coverage · 2 sources
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “George Michael’s Faith guitar sells for £234,000 after his personal assistant’s estranged husband put it up for auction following her death”.