Mumbai: George Michael’s guitar from his 1987 Faith music video is due to go under the hammer in the UK on Thursday, but the family of his late personal assistant, Siobhan Bailey, wants the auction stopped.
The BBC reported on Thursday that the guitar is among 32 items being sold by Bailey’s estranged husband, Ian Belcher. Bailey died in 2014 while the couple was going through a divorce. However, they were still legally married, and she had not left a will, meaning Belcher inherited her possessions. Her family says she would never have wanted the collection to be sold.
Her brother, Gerard Bailey, has written to auction house Sworders asking it to cancel the sale. If the auction goes ahead, he wants the items sold in Belcher’s name rather than his sister’s, calling the use of her name “frankly dishonourable”.
According to Gerard, Siobhan had begun preparing a will leaving the collection to her nieces and nephews but died before completing it. He does not dispute Belcher’s legal right to sell the items.
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A collection from 20 years with George Michael
Siobhan began working for Michael in 1984, when he was still part of Wham!, and remained his personal assistant for 20 years. Her brother said she was among the few people the singer trusted and was fiercely protective of his privacy. Michael had given her the guitar as a gift.
The Gretsch guitar is expected to fetch between £60,000 and £120,000. The auction, titled Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection, also features signed photographs, gold and platinum discs, personal notes and a Filofax from the 1988 Faith tour containing Siobhan’s handwritten notes.
“I think she’d be devastated that something as personal as her Filofax and notes from George are up for grabs,” Gerard told the BBC.
The Filofax was expected to fetch up to £600 but had already attracted a bid of £1,750 before the auction.
Belcher and Sworders both declined to comment.
(Edited By Raunaq Lekhi)