Christmas Number One 2024 — Wham clinch top spot for second year in a row as Mariah Carey misses out once more
WHAM'S Last Christmas is once again the UK's Christmas number one.
The festive showdown kicked off last week, with sales and streams being tallied up for the big reveal on BBC Radio 1’s The Official Chart show today.
Wham!’s Last Christmas was always the favourite to become Christmas number one for the second year in a row.
It's the first time in chart history an act has managed to clinch the Xmas number one slot two years on the trot.
But Mariah Carey was well fancied to top the charts this year too with All I Want For Christmas Is You.
However, Mariah will have to settle for third spot this year as her wait for a Xmas number one continues.
Follow our live updates for the latest!
Last Christmas Legacy
Credit: �NBCUniversal The iconic Christmas song has inspired a Netflix movie with the same title which was released in 2019.
Starring Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones and Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians, the movie featured George Michael's music and even unreleased songs.
Michael collaborated on the concept of the movie before his tragic death on a Christmas Day in 2016.
Guinness Record Christmas Song
Credit: Alamy The Guinness Book of Records has named White Christmas by Bing Crosby as not only the best-selling Christmas song of all time, but also the best-selling single generally of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold.
Most Successful Christmas Song
Credit: Getty With an amazing 3 billion streams and an estimated £11 million in royalties, Ed Sheeran's 2017 smash song "Perfect" stands out as the most successful Christmas Number 1 of the previous 20 years.
Behind Last Christmas
George Michael wrote Last Christmas in his childhood bedroom in February 1984.
The inspiration suddenly struck the singer when he was at his parents' house in Hertfordshire.
Andrew Ridgeley told BBC: "There was a footy match on the telly and he suddenly jumped up and disappeared upstairs where he had a little four-track studio.
"About an hour later, he came back and said, 'Andy Andy, you've got to listen to this'. I rarely saw him as excited or as animated as that.
"And as soon as I heard it, it was so apparent that it had all the hallmarks of a Christmas classic. It was a jaw-dropping moment."
The Controversial Lyrics
In 1984, when Last Christmas was first released, it lost the top spot to Band Aid's track which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
With the 40th anniversary "ultimate mix" of Do They Know Its Christmas, which combined vocals from the many recordings of the song over the years, the charity launched a fresh attempt to top the charts this year.
However, the re-release was halted due to a dispute over the lyrics, with Ed Sheeran claiming he wasn't asked for permission to re-use his voice and critics labeling the song colonialist and out of date.
In the end, it landed on the 12th spot on the chart.
The Christmas Top-10
Out of the 10 songs that made it to the top of the chart, seven of them are holiday-themed.
- Wham! - Last Christmas
- Gracie Abrams - That's So True
- Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas is You
- Tom Grennan - It can't be Christmas
- Rose & Bruno Mars - APT
- Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
- Lola Young - Messy
- Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
- Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me
- The Pogues ft Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York
George Michael's tragic death
George Michael died on Christmas Day, 2016, meaning he never saw the day when Last Christmas finally hit number one spot in the charts some seven years later.
The singer was found dead in bed at his Oxfordshire home by his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz.
Speaking about the horrifying moment, celebrity hairstylist Fawaz said: “We were supposed to be going for Christmas lunch.
“I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed.”
When Bob the Builder bagged Christmas number one
Back in 2000, the theme song to Bob the Builder unexpectedly climbed to the top of the charts.
Voiced by Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey, it sold a whopping 240,000 copies in its first week alone, ultimately becoming the UK’s best-selling single of the year – much to the dismay of Westlife and Eminem.
Paul Joyce, who penned the song, remarked that the achievement was “ridiculous, but incredible.”
He added: “I don’t think the band or their fans ever imagined they’d be challenged by a cartoon bricklayer.
“When we hit No1, Sky TV interrupted Christmas dinner for an interview. I thought, ‘This will never happen again’.”
Credit: BBC 'Britain's favourite all-time Christmas song'
Chief executive of Official Charts Martin Talbot sent his congratulations to Ridgeley and the Wham! team on “achieving an incredible piece of Official Chart history” this week.
“It is incredible to think that four years ago, Last Christmas was the biggest-selling single never to hit number one – then it finally hit the top in January 2021, finally became a Christmas number one in December 2023 and is now the first consecutive Christmas number one in history, with nine weeks at the summit (in five separate runs) to its name,” he added.
“It is surely, undeniably, established now as the British nation’s all-time favourite Christmas song.”
'It's as Christmas as pigs in blankets'
Andrew Ridgley, who was in Wham alongside the late George Michael, told Official Charts: "37 years to get to Number 1, 39 years to Christmas Number 1, and then like London buses they all come along at once!
"I’m especially pleased for George, he would have been utterly delighted, his fabulous Christmas composition has become such a classic, almost as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, turkey and pigs in blankets.
"It’s testament to a really wonderful Christmas song that in a lot of people’s minds evokes and represents Christmas as we would all wish it to be."
Credit: Getty New queen of the Xmas album charts
Over in the Official Albums Chart, US pop star Sabrina Carpenter has capped off a standout year by securing the Christmas number one album title with Short N’ Sweet.
She has beaten Canadian crooner Michael Buble to the top spot as his festive album Christmas takes second place.
US star Chappell Roan, who has also had a breakout year, secures third with her smash hit debut The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess.
Singer-superstar Taylor Swift takes home fourth place with her 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department, while indie rockers The Reytons secure fifth with their Clifton Park live album.
Every Christmas number one since 2000
2023: Wham - Last Christmas
2022: Ladbaby – Food Aid
2021: Ladbaby ft Ed Sheeran and Elton John – Sausage Rolls For Everyone
2020: Ladbaby – Don’t Stop Me Eatin’
2019: Ladbaby – I Love Sausage Rolls
2018: Ladbaby – We Built This City
2017: Ed Sheeran – Perfect
2016: Clean Bandit – Rockabye
2015: The Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Choir – A Bridge Over You
2014: Ben Haenow – Something I Need
2013: Sam Bailey – Skyscraper
2012: The Justice Collective – He’s Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
2011: Military Wives With Gareth Malone – Wherever You Are
2010: Matt Cardle – When We Collide
2009: Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
2008: Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah
2007: Leon Jackson – When You Believe
2006: Leona Lewis – A Moment Like This
2005: Shayne Ward – That’s My Goal
2004: Band Aid 20 – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
2003: Michael Andrews and Gary Jules – Mad World
2002: Girls Aloud – Sound Of The Underground
2001: Robbie Williams And Nicole Kidman – Somethin’ Stupid
2000: Bob The Builder – Can We Fix It?
How are the charts compiled?
The Official Charts is the organisation that measures what the UK's most popular tracks are.
They count sales and streams from 8,000 sources every single day and then combine them all every Friday for the Official Charts, unveiled by BBC Radio 1.
The chart week counts sales and streams from 00.00 Friday morning through to 23.59pm on Thursday evening.
Causing a stir
Freezing This Christmas, performed by Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers, is now second favourite to be crowned the UK's Christmas number one.
Here's what all the fuss is about.
Mariah denied once more
Self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey put up a honourable fight in a bid to secure the Christmas number one title for the first time with her All I Want For Christmas Is You but had to settle for third spot
To mark three decades since its release in 1994, the singer also released a limited edition of her album Merry Christmas, but it will have to settle for a third place finish this year.
Wham bam
The race for this year’s Christmas number one is led by a hot favourite.
Many were pinning their hopes on Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You taking the number one spot this year.
Other music fans were hoping for Tom Grennan’s Amazon Original hit It Can’t Be Christmas to race ahead and take the top spot.
But now it looks like neither Mariah nor Tom will nab a Christmas number one as another classic hit races ahead.
Wham!’s Last Christmas looks set to become Christmas number one for the second time in a row - although protest song Freezing This Christmas is making a late push.
Credit: YouTube Tom gets the job done
Little Bit Of Love singer Tom Grennan had thrown his hat in the ring as well with his new track It Can’t Be Christmas, a collaboration with Amazon Music Original.
He may have missed out on the number one spot, but he has landed a new personal best coming in at number four.
Grennan thanked those who had supported him in his endeavour, saying: “You are always going to be part of my family and a part of my Christmas dream.”
Well ahead of the pack
Last Christmas ended up 10,000 sales ahead of GRACIE ABRAMS’ That’s So True, which is at No2, and saw off competition from MARIAH CAREY and TOM GRENNAN who also put in valiant efforts to score the prestigious top spot.
Fitting on its 40th birthday
Last Christmas was the most streamed and most physically purchased track of the week and is now the only song in history to have been the Christmas chart topper twice consecutively.
And it is perfect timing, as the song - which is clearly now the nation’s favourite festive song - is celebrating its 40th birthday.
Was it really that long ago???
History has been made!
With Wham clinching the number one slot history has been made today.
It's the first time in chart history an act has managed to clinch the Xmas number one slot two years on the trot.
Well done George (how we all miss you) and well done Andrew too.
All together now: 'Last Christmas, I gave you my heart...'
Andrew Ridgley is on-air!
The Wham legend has joined Jack in the Radio 1 studio.
It can only mean one thing: Last Christmas is once again the UK's Christmas number one!
An excited Andrew tells Jack: 'It's historic.'
He's full of praise for the talent of late band mate George Michael. If only he was still with us now.
'It's come to represent Christmas for a lot of people... people can relate to it.'
Unlucky Gracie!
Great effort from the super-talented US singer songwriter Gracie Abrams who maintains her number 2 slot with slick hit That's So True.
Which means...
Mariah misses out once more
Oh Mariah! Will this ever make it to number one? Campaign for it next year guys?
Mariah Carey's stone-cold Chrimbo classic All I Want For Christmas is in at number 3 this year.
Some thought it might be her year but it's not to be.
Credit: Instagram Tom settles for four
Tom Grennan has joined Jack in the studio to herald his number 4 hit It Can't Be Christmas.
He's called it a 'modern classic'. Let's see if it stands the test of time.
It took Wham! 39 years to reach the pinnacle after all.
Non-festive fun at 5
Yep, it's Bruno Mars and Rosé at number five with APT.
We don't mind this one at all - and it's some achievement to break into the top 5 with a non-Christmas number this year.
Congrats!
