George Michael's Faith music video guitar goes up for auction

The image of George Michael in the 1987 music video for Faith is an exercise in calculated rebellion: black leather jacket, blue jeans, and a jukebox as a backdrop. Central to that "Rockabilly Rebel" persona was the Gretsch Synchromatic 160 acoustic guitar he strummed to create a twangy, 1950s-referencing sound that spent four weeks topping the US charts. Now, that specific instrument, featuring a sunburst finish and a case inscribed with the words Rockabilly Rebel, is being sold at auction with an estimated value of £60,000 to £120,000, according to The Guardian.

The sale is part of a larger liquidation of a professional archive belonging to Siobhan Bailey, who served as Michael's personal assistant for more than 20 years. Bailey died in 2014 at the age of 56, and the collection is now being auctioned via her widower through the auction house Sworders. The archive, titled "Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection," is expected to fetch more than £200,000 in total, as reported by the Impartial Reporter.

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The timing of the auction coincides with the 10th anniversary of Michael's death in December and a coordinated push of new material from the Faith era. On 6 November, a new film, George Michael: The Faith Tour, will be released, featuring rediscovered footage from a 1988 Paris concert captured by 14 35mm cameras. The film is co-directed by Andy Morahan, who also directed the original Faith video, and will be released alongside an 18-track live album of the same name.

While the public persona of the Faith era suggested a carefree rock-and-roll spirit, the internal mechanics of Michael's recording process were defined by a rigid desire for control. Engineer Chris Porter, speaking to Sound on Sound as cited by Yahoo News, revealed that Michael often rejected the use of session musicians to protect his specific rhythmic visions. Porter noted that professional musicians often bring a current trend or favorite lick to a session; Michael, however, didn't want their favorite licks and instead chose to play many of the instrumental parts himself.

This perfectionism extended to several of his major hits. Michael played all instruments on I Want Your Sex (Part 1), Hard Day, and Wham!’s Last Christmas. He played most instruments on Monkey, with the exception of the guitar part performed by Roddy Matthews.

The Bailey archive offers a granular look at the labor behind this fame, moving beyond high-value instruments to the mundane logistics of global stardom. The collection includes:

• Tour Logistics: Private itinerary documents and handwritten notebooks, including a four-page running order for 1985's Live Aid and documents from Wham!’s 1985 tour of China, where they were the first western act to tour the country.
• Sales Milestones: A gold disc for 500,000 UK sales of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and awards for sales of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (over 1 million) and Older (over 1.8 million), each estimated at £200-£500.
• Personal Ephemera: An invitation to a 2002 lunch with David and Victoria Beckham specifying a dress code of white tie and diamonds, as well as a metal lighthouse statue presented by the Malaga city council in 1989.
• Rare Media: A promotional box set of the album Older not released to the public, expected to sell for £300-£600.

The dispersion of these items is happening in tandem with other high-profile sales. Separately, Ray-Ban sunglasses worn by Michael during the Faith tour are expected to sell for £15,000 to £30,000 at the Music Memorabilia Live auction in London on 1 and 2 October.

The Siobhan Bailey collection will be on public display at Sworders’ London branch from 20 to 27 October. The final auction takes place on 29 October, both online and in person at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex.

Chronology of the Faith Era Legacy

The sequence begins with the Music Memorabilia Live auction on 1 and 2 October, where his tour sunglasses are slated for sale. This is followed by the public exhibition of the Siobhan Bailey archive in London from 20 to 27 October, leading directly to the main auction on 29 October.

The narrative of this era will be further extended on 6 November with the release of George Michael: The Faith Tour. While the feature film uses footage from 14 35mm cameras during a 1988 Paris performance, it will be preceded by a short film by Mary McCartney. According to The Guardian, this short will combine previously unheard interview audio with images captured by photographer Herb Ritts.

The provenance of these items highlights the intimacy of the professional relationship between Michael and Bailey. Beyond the high-value instruments, the Impartial Reporter notes the inclusion of signed photographs personally inscribed to Bailey, as well as rare acetate singles and cassettes marked Not For Sale.

Among the tour documents is a four-page running order for the 1985 Live Aid performance, which specifically includes the duet with Elton John, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. The collection also preserves the logistics of Wham!’s 1985 visit to China, a trip The Guardian describes as having occurred in fractious circumstances and documented in the film Wham! in China: Foreign Skies.

For the collectors and historians monitoring these events, the next step is the public unveiling of the archive at Sworders’ London branch on 20 October.