For the second year in a row, Wham!’s Last Christmas has taken the UK’s Christmas number one spot. The festive classic, written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, beat out Mariah Carey, Gracie Abrams, Tom Grennan, and Ariana Grande to secure the top spot on the chart. Andrew Ridgeley expressed his delight at the achievement, noting that his late bandmate would have been “utterly delighted” to see the song become such a Christmas classic.
Speaking about the success of Last Christmas, Ridgeley praised the song’s ability to conjure up all of the joy and warmth of the holiday season. The Official Charts Company reported that the song generated 12.6 million streams in the lead-up to Christmas. The only other songs to have claimed the Christmas number one spot more than once are Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody (in 1975 and 1991) and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas (in 1984, 1989, and 2004). Neither of these tracks managed to secure back-to-back number ones.
Last Christmas was originally released in 1984 but lost out on the top spot to Band Aid’s charity collaboration aimed at raising money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Despite initially losing out, Last Christmas has become a staple of holiday playlist, annually reappearing on the charts since 2007. Jack Saunders, who presents Radio 1’s Chart Show, noted the challenges facing new holiday releases, stating that it takes time for these songs to be adopted as classics.
This year’s festive charts were dominated by perennial favourites, with 29 of the songs in the Top 40 being Christmas-themed. Of the few newcomers, only Laufey’s Christmas Magic and Tom Grennan’s It Can’t Be Christmas made a dent in the standings. Amazon Music commissioned both pieces, promoting them to users who used their smart speakers to call up Christmas music. Tom Grennan campaigned vigorously to reach number four, even getting a tattoo of “Christmas No 1 is..” on his thigh which he plans to finish with whichever song ultimately emerges on top
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