The 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160 that George Michael slung over his shoulder in the “Faith” video is heading to auction this October, with estimates suggesting it could sell for well over £100,000. It is the centrepiece of Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection, a sale that promises to peel back the curtain on one of British pop’s most singular careers.
The instrument, a vintage hollow-body classic, is inseparable from the mythology of the 1987 single — a four-week US Billboard Hot 100 number one that peaked just shy of the top spot in the UK. In it, he is every inch the leather-jacketed, blue-jeaned heartthrob, strumming beside a jukebox in a clip that has been parodied, referenced and revered ever since.
The archive has been put together by Siobhan Bailey, who spent two decades working as Michael’s personal assistant. Bailey died in 2014, and it is her widower who is now offering her personal collection to the highest bidder. Spread across 41 lots, the haul is expected to realise more than £200,000 in total.
From Tour Books to Test Pressings
For collectors who fancy something other than the headline guitar, the catalogue is remarkably deep. Ring-bound tour itineraries chart Michael’s journey from his Wham! days with Andrew Ridgeley through to his solo era, offering a paper trail of a life spent perpetually on the road.
Then there are the souvenirs of the gigs that defined a decade. A four-page running order from Live Aid in 1985 is among the most evocative lots, capturing the moment when Michael joined Elton John for a rendition of “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” that remains one of the most cherished performances in British pop history.
The music-obsessed will find plenty to pore over too. The collection includes rare cassettes and acetate singles — some helpfully stamped Not For Sale — alongside a stack of presentation discs and gold records. Among the certified sellers: a gold disc for half a million UK sales of “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (estimate £200-£500), an award for more than a million copies of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (estimate £200-£500), and another plaque marking 200,000-plus sales of Older (estimate £200-£500).
There is also a clutch of signed photographs, each personally inscribed to Bailey, hinting at the relationship between an artist at the height of his powers and the confidante at his side.
A Bigger Picture
The auction arrives at a moment when Michael’s cultural stock feels particularly high. Streaming-era listeners have rediscovered his catalogue, while documentaries and retrospectives have cemented his reputation as something more substantial than an eighties pop pin-up. Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, he racked up 13 UK number one singles across his career, came out as gay in 1998, and became a vocal champion of LGBT rights and HIV/Aids charities.
Guy Schooling, chairman of Sworders auctioneers, said the sale offered a rare window into an artist whose music still cuts through. “George Michael’s work continues to resonate as powerfully today as it did during his heyday,” he said. “The Faith guitar is the jewel in the crown, together with the other items from Siobhan Bailey’s collection, it tells a story of creativity, ambition and artistry on a global scale.”
“The sale will offer avid fans around the globe the chance to own not just pieces of music history, but objects that capture the spirit and ambition of one of pop’s greatest and most-loved artists.”
Michael passed away from heart disease on Christmas Day 2016, aged 53. The Faith & Fame auction takes place at Sworders on Thursday 29 October.
Why it Matters
Auctions of celebrity memorabilia tend to attract two distinct bidders: the deep-pocketed investor and the die-hard fan willing to stretch beyond reason. With estimates north of £200,000 for the collection and six figures mooted for the Gretsch alone, this sale will test just how durable George Michael’s legacy has become, more than a decade after his death. For collectors, it is a rare chance to acquire objects that have been off the market since the artist’s working life. For the wider public, the lots offer a tangible reminder of a songwriter whose hits — from “Freedom” to “Fastlove” — still soundtrack British lives. Whether the hammer falls on the high estimate or somewhere below, the market will have its say on where Michael now sits in the pop pantheon.
