George Michael's guitar sells for more than £200,000

A vintage guitar that once belonged to renowned British musician George Michael fetched over £200,000 in an auction of personal memorabilia. The instrument was used in Michael's music video for the hit song "Faith," and it was sold by the collection of his late former personal assistant Siobhan Bailey, who passed away in 2014. The final selling price of £234,480 surpassed all expectations and was secured by an anonymous buyer from the UK who placed the bid online.

The auction, organized by Sworders, was reportedly a source of contention within Michael's family. Siobhan's brother Gerard Belcher expressed concern over the auction, stating that his sister would have been horrified by the idea of her personal belongings being auctioned off for the highest bidder. Gerard claimed that Siobhan was in the process of drafting a will before her death to leave the items to her nieces and nephews, but she was still legally married to Ian Belcher at the time of her passing.

Gerard argued that the auction was a breach of his sister's privacy and asked for the sale to be stopped or listed under his sister's brother's name. Sworders auctioneers, however, declined to comment on the family matter, emphasizing that legal disputes are not rare in the auction business and that the legal title of the collection is not disputed.

Other items up for sale included ring-bound tour itineraries, memorabilia from Michael's time with Wham!, and various performance-related memorabilia such as a four-page running order from Live Aid in 1985 featuring a duet with Elton John. Additionally, there were items like a gold disc for 500,000 UK sales of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," rare cassettes, acetate singles marked "Not For Sale," and signed photographs personally inscribed to Siobhan Bailey.

The auction aimed to provide fans worldwide the opportunity to own pieces of music history and artifacts that embody the spirit and ambition of one of pop's most beloved artists. George Michael, whose real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, had 13 number one singles in the UK and became an advocate for LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS charity fundraising. He tragically passed away on Christmas Day in 2016 at the age of 53.