One of the most iconic items in George Michael’s career, the acoustic guitar he energetically strummed in the video for ۱۹۸۷’s Faith, is going up for auction.
The guitar, a Gretsch Synchromatic ۱۶۰ with a sunburst finish to the body, has an estimated sale price of £۶۰,۰۰۰-£۱۲۰,۰۰۰. It comes with a case featuring the words Rockabilly Rebel pasted on it – a reference to the twangy, ۱۹۵۰s-referencing sound of Faith, which topped the US charts for four weeks and became a foundation stone of Michael’s post-Wham! solo career.
The guitar is part of a broader auction from the archive of Michael’s former personal assistant, Siobhan Bailey, who died in ۲۰۱۴ aged ۵۶. It is being arranged via her widower.
Bailey worked for Michael for more than ۲۰ years, and amassed a sizeable trove of memorabilia. The star lot is the Gretsch guitar, but there are ۳۱ others spanning everything from gold and platinum discs to tour programmes – and a metal lighthouse statue presented to Michael by Malaga city council in ۱۹۸۹ (estimated price £۲۰۰-£۴۰۰).
There are glimpses into the machinations for George Michael and Wham! tours via private itinerary documents, including one of Bailey’s handwritten notebooks, and a running order document for ۱۹۸۵’s Live Aid. Another itinerary details Wham!’s ۱۹۸۵ tour of China, when they became the first western act to tour the country. The trip was documented – in fractious circumstances – by director Lindsay Anderson in the film Wham! in China: Foreign Skies, recently reissued in an altered form as Wham! ۱۰ Days in China.
The auction also features the ultimate version of Michael’s album Older – a promotional box set not made available to the public, expected to sell for £۳۰۰-۶۰۰ – and invitations that Michael received to various events including a reception by TV soap EastEnders, and a lunch with David and Victoria Beckham in ۲۰۰۲ (“rickshaws at nightfall, dress: white tie and diamonds”). Another lot features ۴۹ photos, some of them taken by Bailey and previously unseen.
Coincidentally, another Faith-era item is going up for sale at a separate auction announced this week: Ray-Ban sunglasses worn by Michael on the Faith tour are expected to sell for £۱۵,۰۰۰ to £۳۰,۰۰۰ at the upcoming Music Memorabilia Live auction held in London on ۱ and ۲ October.
The auctions arrive as the ۱۰th anniversary of Michael’s death approaches in December, along with a broader re-appreciation of the Faith era.
A new film, George Michael: The Faith Tour, will be released on ۶ November, drawn from rediscovered footage of a ۱۹۸۸ concert in Paris. The film is co-directed by Andy Morahan, who directed the Faith music video, and is assembled from footage generated by ۱۴ ۳۵mm cameras which captured Michael’s performance. It will be preceded by a short film by Mary McCartney, pairing unseen images of Michael by acclaimed photographer Herb Ritts with an unheard interview with Michael. An ۱۸-track live album, also titled George Michael: The Faith Tour, is being released alongside it.
The Siobhan Bailey auction takes place ۲۹ October, both online and in person at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. The items go on display at Sworders’ London branch from ۲۰-۲۷ October.
