The auctioning of the guitar that George Michael played in the iconic “Faith” music video has led to significant drama among the family of the artist’s late assistant.
On Thursday, the guitar that the late George Michael played in the 1987 music video for his iconic hit “Faith,” which was among the items in a collection belonging to the singer’s long-time assistant, Siobhan Bailey, sold for £238,000 (~$318,160) at a London auction.
Bailey’s widower, Ian Belcher, put the items up for sale after inheriting them following her death in 2014. Now, Gerard Bailey, Siobhan’s brother, tells the BBC that his sister would be “horrified” that her “personal cherished possessions” had been “sold off to the highest bidder.”
Gerard claims that Siobhan began drafting a will before her death, intending to leave the collection to her nieces and nephews. However, the will had never been registered. Siobhan Bailey was also reportedly in the process of divorcing Ian Belcher when she died but remained legally married to him. Since she was still married to her estranged husband at the time of her death and had not registered a will, Bailey’s estate legally passed to Belcher.
Gerard Bailey submitted a letter to the auction house, Sworders, claiming the rest of the family viewed the auction as a “breach of privacy.” According to the family, if Bailey had lived just a few weeks longer, the items in the collection would not have remained in Belcher’s possession, because he would not have been considered her next of kin.
The letter claimed that Belcher’s “misuse of [Bailey’s name]” was “frankly dishonorable” and that profiting from the collection was “egregiously shameful.” Further, Gerard Bailey asked that the auction not go ahead as planned or that it take place in Belcher’s name rather than Siobhan’s.
Sworders described the 32 lots in the collection, which included signed photographs, invitations to events, and presentation CDs and discs, as a “remarkable group of memorabilia from the collection of Siobhan Bailey, George Michael’s long-time personal assistant and trusted confidante.”
Siobhan Bailey began working with the artist in 1984, the year Wham! had their first #1 hit with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” She served as his personal assistant for 20 years. Her brother told the BBC that she purposely avoided the limelight and was very protective of Michael’s privacy, even in the face of tabloid journalists hoping for juicy stories.
“I think she was one of the few people George trusted and whose opinion he valued,” Gerard said. “She was always honest and straight with him. I guess that’s why she stayed working for him for so long through the very, very good and not so good times.”
Gerard said the guitar had been a gift to his sister because the singer “thought so much of her.” Guitarist magazine recently described the guitar as “arguably the most famous Gretsch Synchromatic in the world.”
