Culture News

George Michael's 'Faith' guitar sells for £180k, beating estimates, amid a family row

The guitar George Michael played in his 1987 Faith video has sold for £180,000, BBC News reports, but the sale came after a row: the brother of the singer's late personal assistant said she would not have wanted the items to be sold.

The instrument, an original 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160, came from an archive assembled by Siobhan Bailey, Michael's personal assistant for about two decades, who died in 2014. Her widower put the collection up for sale at Essex auctioneers Sworders on October 29, in a sale titled "Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection", according to ITV News and The Irish News, which ran the Press Association report. The estimate was £60,000–£120,000.

“What it will make is anybody's guess.” — Sworders chairman Guy Schooling, via ITV News

Guitar World wrote for players and collectors, giving the estimate in dollars (about $81,000–$162,000) and listing other lots: gold and platinum discs, tour itineraries including Wham!'s 1985 China concert, and a case labelled "Rockabilly Rebel" sold with the guitar.

How each outlet framed it

• BBC News — the result, and the family's objection.
• ITV News — the regional auction house and the uncertainty before the sale.
• The Irish News (PA) — the guitar as "the jewel in the crown" of a £200,000-plus archive.
• Guitar World — the instrument itself and the memorabilia around it.

What we don't know yet: Who bought the guitar, and what the full archive raised against its £200,000 pre-sale expectation.