An auction of George Michael memorabilia has prompted a dispute within the family of his former assistant, Siobhan Bailey. Her collection, including the guitar from the “Faith” video, was sold by her husband on October 29. Bailey’s brother says she would have opposed the decision and the use of her name, while acknowledging that her husband legally inherited the items after her death.
George Michael’s guitar from the “Faith” video became the most prominent object in a family disagreement surrounding a 32-lot memorabilia auction. Sworders held the sale in Essex on October 29, despite objections from the family of Siobhan Bailey, the singer’s former personal assistant. The dispute concerned what should happen to her collection, rather than a claim that it had been stolen.
Bailey began working for the musician in 1984 and remained his personal assistant for approximately 20 years. During that time, she gathered objects connected with recordings, tours and important moments in his career. Gold and platinum records, photographs, letters and concert programmes formed part of an archive shaped by a long working relationship.
Some items carried personal dedications, and the “Faith” guitar had been a gift from George Michael himself. Their importance to Bailey was therefore not confined to their possible value as collectors’ pieces. For her brother Gerard, they represented memories she had kept from years alongside the performer, making the decision to sell them a particularly personal matter.
Bailey died in 2014 without leaving a will. Although she and Ian Belcher were in the process of divorcing, they remained legally married. He inherited the objects and later decided to sell them. Sworders and Gerard Bailey do not dispute his ownership, leaving the disagreement focused on the sale’s personal meaning and the family’s memories and how the collection was presented.
Gerard says his sister would have strongly opposed the auction, especially its promotion under her name. He claims she intended to leave the objects to her nieces and nephews and had begun preparing a will before her unexpected death. That account describes his understanding of her intentions, rather than wishes established by a valid completed inheritance document.
He wrote to Sworders asking either for the sale to stop or for Siobhan Bailey’s name to be replaced by that of the seller. In his view, using her identity intruded on her privacy while turning cherished memories into a source of financial gain. He nevertheless acknowledged Belcher’s legal position and did not describe the sale as theft.
The auction house declined to enter the family disagreement, saying ownership was not in dispute. Belcher did not publicly answer the specific objections. Representatives had previously explained that the memorabilia had been kept in a garage and faced a risk of deterioration, offering that account as a reason for bringing the collection to sale.
Those explanations did not remove the family’s objections. The two positions concern different questions: whether the owner can sell, and whether selling reflects what Bailey would have wanted. George Michael’s connection to the objects gave the auction a wider public profile, but the disagreement arose within the family of the person who had retained them.
The best-known lot was a 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160 acoustic guitar, accompanied by its original case and strap. Michael held it in the 1987 “Faith” video, appearing in a leather jacket and jeans beside a jukebox. That image helped make the instrument recognisable beyond the circle of people who knew about Bailey’s collection.
Before the auction, the guitar carried an estimate of £60,000 to £120,000. Sworders’ published lot result lists it as sold for £180,000, exceeding the upper estimate. Its auction listing identifies it as the instrument used in the “Faith” video and records provenance from the estate of Siobhan Bailey, linking the object with both the filmed performance and its later owner.
The remaining collection included a Wham! gold record for “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, a signed “Five Live” item associated with Queen, tour memorabilia and an award from Málaga’s municipal authorities. Rare cassettes, dedicated photographs and performance material supplied other connections with George Michael’s career during the years Bailey worked beside him.
The collection did not come directly from the singer or an official administration of his musical legacy. It was the personal archive of a close collaborator who had acquired many objects through everyday professional contact. That origin is central to Gerard Bailey’s objection, giving the objects a family history alongside their connection to a widely known artist.
The letters, photographs and dedications also explain why the collection was described through Bailey’s association with the singer. Each object could be linked to a particular part of that working period, rather than gathered simply as merchandise. For her family, the importance of those connections remained personal, while buyers encountered them within an auction devoted to George Michael memorabilia and its documented history.
The October 29 auction proceeded without the cancellation he had requested. His opposition remained attached to the sale, even as the seller’s title went unchallenged. At its centre was a gift George Michael had made to a trusted assistant, now sold as a recognisable piece of music history amid disagreement about how her personal possessions should be treated.
