George Michael’s ‘Faith’ guitar up for auction
Developing story first seen 6 hours ago
New details have emerged alongside the sale of George Michael's "Faith" guitar: the Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses he wore on stage during the 1988 Faith Tour are to be auctioned separately by Propstore, in a two-day sale beginning 1 October, with an estimated price of at least £15,000. The guitar itself, an original 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160 played in the video for the title track of Michael's 25-million-selling 1987 debut solo album, remains expected to fetch around £100,000 when it goes under the hammer at Sworders on 29 October, as the centrepiece of a wider archive belonging to his late personal assistant, Siobhan Bailey.
Bailey, who worked for the singer for more than 20 years and died in 2014, amassed a collection that also includes Wham! and George Michael tour itineraries, among them one from their 1985 China visit (estimated £300-£600), and a gold disc marking 500,000 UK sales of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (estimated at least £200). The full archive is expected to sell for more than £200,000, following the earlier sale of the leather jacket Michael wore in the "Faith" video, which fetched £176,400 at a separate Propstore auction earlier this year.
- Faith Tour sunglasses to be auctioned by Propstore from 1 October, est. £15,000+
- Faith video guitar, a 1940s Gretsch, expected to fetch £100,000 at Sworders
- Wider Siobhan Bailey archive of Michael memorabilia expected to top £200,000
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George Michael's Faith album, released in 1987, turned him from a pop star into one of the biggest solo artists in the world, selling around 25 million copies. The title track's music video, in which he mimed along with a Gretsch guitar, became one of his most recognisable images alongside his leather jacket and sunglasses.
The items now going to auction come from the personal archive of Siobhan Bailey, who worked as George Michael's assistant for more than two decades until her death in 2014. Over that time she built up a large collection of memorabilia from his career and from Wham!, the duo he formed with Andrew Ridgeley before going solo.
This matters because pop memorabilia from major stars regularly draws strong interest and high prices at auction, particularly items tied to instantly recognisable moments like the Faith video. George Michael, who died in 2016, remains one of Britain's best-selling music artists, which is why objects connected to him continue to attract attention from collectors and fans.
Full account
A guitar played by George Michael in the video for his 1987 single Faith is to be sold at auction, with estimates suggesting it could fetch six figures. The instrument, a 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160 with a sunburst finish, was central to the singer's reinvention as he stepped out from Wham! as a solo artist, appearing alongside the leather jacket and aviator sunglasses that became instantly recognisable images of the era. Faith, the title track of his debut solo album, topped the US charts and helped the record sell more than 25 million copies worldwide.
The guitar forms the standout lot in a wider sale of memorabilia amassed by Siobhan Bailey, who worked as George Michael's personal assistant for more than two decades before her death in 2014. Sworders auction house will offer the items, arranged through Bailey's widower, at a sale on 29 October, with the guitar coming complete with its original case bearing the words 'Rockabilly Rebel', a nod to the retro, 1950s-inflected sound of the song itself. Guy Schooling, chairman of Sworders, called the piece the 'jewel in the crown' of the collection, saying it would let fans own objects that captured the singer's ambition as well as his music.
Beyond the guitar, more than 30 further lots chart the singer's career with Wham! and as a solo artist. These include a handwritten itinerary from the duo's landmark 1985 tour of China, when they became the first Western pop act to perform there, as well as a running order from that year's Live Aid concert and one of Bailey's own notebooks. Other items span a gold disc marking 500,000 UK sales of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, a promotional box set of the Older album never sold to the public, a metal lighthouse statuette given to Michael by the city of Malaga in 1989, an invitation to a 2002 lunch with David and Victoria Beckham, and 49 photographs, some previously unseen and taken by Bailey herself.
The sale coincides with renewed attention on Michael's Faith era ahead of the 10th anniversary of his death this December. Earlier this year, the leather jacket he wore in the Faith video sold for £176,400 at a separate auction, and the Ray-Ban sunglasses from the same period are also due under the hammer in early October at a further sale. A newly restored concert film, George Michael: The Faith Tour, drawn from previously unseen footage of a 1988 Paris show and co-directed by original Faith video director Andy Morahan, is set for release on 6 November, alongside a short companion film by Mary McCartney.
Where outlets differ
The two reports give different price estimates for the guitar: the BBC-style report states a flat expectation of around £100,000, while the other source gives a range of £60,000–£120,000.
The reports disagree on where and for how much the Faith-era Ray-Ban sunglasses will be sold: one names Propstore with an estimate of at least £15,000, the other names a 'Music Memorabilia Live' auction in London with a range of £15,000–£30,000.
The BBC-focused report emphasises the Hertfordshire/regional angle and gives a total estimate for the whole archive (over £200,000), which the other source does not mention.
The other source provides considerably more detail on the wider collection (China tour, Live Aid document, Beckham invitation, Older box set, Malaga lighthouse statuette, unseen photographs) and on the forthcoming Faith Tour concert film and its production background, none of which appear in the shorter regional report.
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