John Lewis Christmas Advert 2024: Everything you need to know about Richard Ashcroft's Sonnet competition

It really is the most wonderful time of year again - the John Lewis Christmas Advert for 2024 has just been unveiled.

Now recognised as one of the hallmarks of the British festive season, this year's John Lewis Christmas Advert is called The Gifting Hour, and follows the story of two sisters inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia and set inside John Lewis's own flagship Oxford Street store in London.

One of the biggest draws of the John Lewis Christmas ad is always the song that soundtracks it - two songs used in previous adverts, Gabrielle Aplin's haunting cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's The Power of Love and Lily Allen's tender take on Keane's Somewhere Only We Know both peaked at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart in 2012 and 2013 respectively. 

This year, the John Lewis Christmas Advert is soundtracked by something different, an original composition, albeit one that is now 27 years old; Richard Ashcroft's Sonnet, which was originally released as a single by his band The Verve in 1997.

But! there's a catch. It turns out that while we hear Ashcroft's original vocal in the advert right now, that will change soon. John Lewis have announced a brand new competition via TikTok, where winners can enter their own cover of the Sonnet. Ashcroft will judge entrants, and the winner will hear their take be incorporated into the advert, broadcast on Christmas Day.

WATCH the John Lewis Christmas Advert 2024 below

What song am I hearing on the John Lewis Christmas Advert 2024?

The song soundtracking the John Lewis Christmas Advert 2024 is The Verve's Sonnet, featuring vocals from Richard Ashcroft.

And who are The Verve and Richard Ashcroft, again?

The Verve were an English rock band, originally formed in Wigan in 1990 by Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Peter Salisbury. The band's rise was tumultuous to say the least, marred by in-fighting, line-up changes and battles with drugs and alcohol. In 1997, the Verve earned the defining hit of their career with Bitter Sweet Symphony, a Number 2 hit in the UK, following that up with their first (and only) UK Number 1 hit, The Drugs Don't Work.

At the commercial height of their career in 1999, the Verve broke up. There was a  reunion  in 2007 which turned into a 2008 album, Forth, but they broke up again in 2009. Ashcroft has continued to pursue a solo career - earning a UK Number 1 album and 2 UK Top 10 singles - and was recently announced as the support act for Oasis' much-hyped 2025 reunion tour in the UK and Ireland.

What's the UK chart history of Sonnet by The Verve?

Sonnet was released as the final single from The Verve's third album Urban Hymns (the album that launched them into wider fame with Bitter Sweet Symphony). The release was something of a contentious issue for the band, who didn't want to issue another single from Urban Hymns, but their record label insisted. 

As such, Sonnet has a really interesting history on the Official Singles Chart. The Verve only agreed to release Sonnet if it was via a physical format that would make it ineligible for the Official Chart. Sonnet, therefore, was released as part of a four-part 12 inch vinyl set limited to just 5,000 copies. The song was played on heavy rotation on UK radio. but did manage to chart at Number 74 on the Official Singles Chart, thanks to a foreign import.

With the song getting a big resurgence this year - could we see Sonnet's return to the Official Singles Chart...maybe even at a new all-time peak?

When will the winner of the John Lewis Christmas Advert TikTok competition be announced?

The competition to find a winning cover of Sonnet starts this Friday (November 15) via TikTok. The winner will see their cover incorporated into the advert on a Christmas Day broadcast, as well as a £3,000 shopping spree.