Wham!’s festive anthem Last Christmas has clinched the UK Christmas number one spot for the second consecutive year, beating classics by Mariah Carey, Tom Grennan, and Ariana Grande.
Band member Andrew Ridgeley expressed pride, especially for his late partner George Michael, who passed away in 2016. “George would have been thrilled that his beautiful song has become a Christmas tradition, much like mince pies and turkey,” Ridgeley said.
Originally released in 1984, Last Christmas lost the top spot to Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas. Yet, nostalgia and streaming have kept it a perennial favorite, re-entering the charts annually since 2007. This year, it racked up 12.6 million streams, according to the Official Charts Company.
The 2024 Christmas chart was crowded with holiday hits. Joining Last Christmas in the Top 10 were Tom Grennan’s It Can’t Be Christmas and Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. Notably, Grennan’s song reached fourth place, fueled by a creative Amazon Music campaign and his relentless promotion.
Protest track Freezing This Christmas, parodying Mud’s Lonely This Christmas, aimed to highlight government winter fuel cuts. Despite being the week’s most downloaded song, it placed at number 37, underscoring streaming’s dominance in music consumption.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter’s album Short ‘N’ Sweet topped the UK album charts, with Michael Bublé’s Christmas taking second place.