The much-coveted number-one spot goes to…
The official UK Christmas number one song has been revealed.
The competition was fierce, and festive classics from the likes of The Pogues, Mariah Carey, Elton John, and Sam Ryder were all strong contenders to be hailed as the favourite Christmas song.
However, after over three decades, WHAM!’s hit, ‘Last Christmas’ has been crowned as this year’s number one Christmas song.
In 1984, the duo, Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael lost out to Band-Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, which included the voice of Michael as part of their ensemble.
Reacting to the news of being the Christmas number one this year, the band’s official Instagram page wrote:
“At long last… We have claimed the Official UK Christmas Number 1 with ‘Last Christmas’ for the very first time in its nearly 40-year history!
“We are so delighted by this and cannot thank the fans enough for their continued love and support that they show to the song every year.
“What an incredible achievement – George would have been so proud and delighted by this.”
On Christmas Day in 2016, Michael sadly passed away from heart failure.
‘Last Christmas’ beat out seasonal classics such as The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s ‘Fairytale of New York’, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’. as well as ‘Merry Christmas’ by Ed Sheeran and Elton John.
Wham!’s win comes after their hit was streamed 13.3 million times over the past seven days, according to Official Charts Company data – making it the most streamed Christmas Number one ever during Christmas week.
“It’ll mean a lot to Wham!’s legacy – it’s the crowning glory,” Andrew said of their win, before explaining how the song came to fruition.
“Last Christmas was conceived as a Christmas No 1. Lofty ambitions, but Yog set lofty ambitions for himself as a songwriter.
“Our fans will have a real sense of achievement and pride in the fact it’s become Christmas No 1. It was a huge disappointment to us both when it didn’t reach No 1 because, in our opinion, it was nailed on,” he confessed.
“Had it not been for Band Aid’s, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, it probably would’ve been No 1.”
“Thwarted for many years subsequent to that – the perennial bridesmaid – over recent years it seems it’s become part of the fabric of Christmas for a lot of people.”
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