Family dispute over George Michael auction featuring Faith guitar

An auction featuring George Michael’s Faith video guitar has become the subject of a family dispute, with the brother of his late personal assistant opposing the sale. Gerard Bailey told the BBC that his sister, Siobhan Bailey, would not have wanted her possessions auctioned.

The BBC reported that the items are being sold by her estranged husband, Ian Belcher, who inherited them after her death in 2014. According to the report, both Belcher and auction house Sworders declined to comment on the objections.

Bailey was still legally married when she died and had not left a will, the BBC reported. Her brother said she had been preparing one that would have left the possessions to nieces and nephews. The BBC said there was no suggestion that Belcher lacked the legal right to sell them.

The sale, titled Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection, is advertised by Sworders for 29 October 2026. The auction house presents the archive as a record of Bailey’s long working relationship with Michael, spanning his time in Wham! and his subsequent solo career.

Its centrepiece is a Gretsch Synchromatic 160 acoustic guitar dating from around 1945, with a sunburst finish. Sworders identifies it as the instrument used in the Faith music video and lists an estimate of £60,000–£120,000. Its accompanying case bears the words “Rockabilly Rebel”.

The instrument’s appeal rests partly on its association with Michael’s emergence as a solo performer. In the video for the 1987 song, the guitar appeared alongside the leather jacket, sunglasses and jukebox that helped establish his new image. ITV reported that several replicas were subsequently made for the Faith tour, distinguishing them from the original offered here.

The potential price remains uncertain, despite the instrument’s prominent place in Michael’s visual history. Sworders chairman Guy Schooling told ITV that the jacket Michael wore in the video had sold earlier in the summer for £176,000. He cautioned that the guitar’s eventual result could not be predicted from its estimate.

Other advertised lots include photographs, gold and platinum discs, programmes and personalised touring documents. Sworders lists an itinerary for Wham!’s 1985 China visit, a Live Aid artist running order and material from the Faith world tour. Together, those objects extend the collection beyond the better-known imagery surrounding the guitar.

The disagreement concerns both the disposal of the possessions and the use of Bailey’s name to promote them. Her brother has asked for the auction to be stopped or, if it proceeds, to be presented in Belcher’s name instead, according to the BBC. That request is separate from any challenge to ownership.

Sworders’ published arrangements list the auction for 2pm at its Stansted Mountfitchet rooms in Essex, with in-person and online bidding. Its schedule also lists a London viewing from 20–27 October. Neither the auction house nor Belcher offered the BBC a response explaining whether the family’s objections would affect those plans.