George Michael’s Faith guitar leads Sworders auction

George Michael’s original Gretsch guitar from the 1987 Faith video will headline a Sworders sale in London on Oct. 29, with bidding available worldwide online. The archive, assembled by his former personal assistant Siobhan Bailey, also includes tour itineraries, concert documents, photos and awards expected to bring more than £200,000.

Why it matters: - The original guitar from the Faith video is a piece of pop history tied to George Michael’s break from Wham! and his rise as a solo star. - Sworders expects the guitar to draw more than £100,000, making it the top lot in a sale aimed at collectors and George Michael fans. - The wider archive offers a rare, personal record of George Michael’s career, tours and performances.

What happened: - Sworders will auction Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, at 2 p.m. UK time, with worldwide online bidding available through Sworders Live. - The headline item is George Michael’s original 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 150 guitar used in the 1987 Faith video. - The auction will be shown at Sworders’ London gallery from Oct. 20-27, 2026. - A souvenir catalogue will be available, and the catalogue is already online at the full catalogue.

The details: - The guitar has a sunburst finish and cat’s-eye sound holes. - The instrument comes with its original hardshell case. - Handwritten tape on the case identifies the guitar as “The Rockabilly Rebel.” - Several replicas were later made for the Faith tour, but the auction lot is the original used in the video. - Faith sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. - The title track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 2 in the UK. - Andy Morahan directed the video, which used a stripped-back leather-and-denim look that helped define the era. - The archive was assembled by George Michael’s long-time personal assistant, Siobhan Bailey, who worked with him for nearly two decades. - Bailey died of natural causes at age 56 in 2014. - Other archive items include ring-bound tour itineraries from the early 1983 Club Fantastic Tour through the 29-date Cover to Cover Tour in 1991. - The archive includes an annotated itinerary from Wham!’s 1985 China tour and a Chinese-language invitation to a welcome reception in Beijing. - The sale includes never-before-seen photographs of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. - Live performance material includes a four-page typed running order from Live Aid in 1985 with the duet with Elton John on Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. - The collection also includes material from George Michael’s performance of Somebody to Love at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. - Recorded-music items include a gold disc for 500,000 UK sales of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, an award for more than one million UK sales of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, and an award for more than 1.8 million UK sales of Older. - The archive includes rare cassettes and acetate singles marked “Not For Sale.” - Signed photographs personally inscribed to Bailey are also included. - Sworders expects the archive as a whole to bring more than £200,000. - Estimated prices listed in the sale include £400-£800 for the Club Fantastic and Cover to Cover itineraries, £300-£600 for the China tour material and unseen photos, and £200-£500 for the award discs.

Between the lines: - The guitar is the visual anchor of a video that helped recast George Michael as a standalone pop icon. - The rest of the archive appears designed to appeal to serious collectors because it documents both the public hits and the backstage work of his career. - Sworders is positioning the sale around intimacy as much as rarity, since many items were kept by someone inside Michael’s professional circle.

What's next: - Public viewing runs in London before the Oct. 29 sale. - Online and in-room bidding will determine whether the Faith guitar meets or exceeds its estimate. - The broader collection will test demand for deeply personal George Michael memorabilia beyond the marquee instrument.

The bottom line: - The Faith guitar is the centerpiece, but the archive’s value lies in the full story it tells about George Michael’s rise, work and legacy.