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The Official Top 40 most-streamed Christmas songs
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Christmas songs are like Brussels sprouts: they only appear in December and you either love or loathe them - but either way they are an essential component of the festive season.
Like distant relatives bounding into your family home on Christmas morning, every December sees a flurry of festive favourites flood back into the Official Chart - ever since the age of downloading (2005) and streaming (2014) made the classics (as well as the newer Christmas songs) more accessible.
As ever, the 2021 festive season is seeing plenty of Christmas classics back in this Official Singles Chart - but a smattering of newer tracks are emerging, too.
MORE: The Official 2021 Christmas Number 1 contenders
Looking at the UK’s most-streamed Christmas songs, based on Official Charts Company data, the Top 3 is the holy trinity of classics: Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You lands at the top of the tree with 248 million streams to date, followed by Wham’s Last Christmas, on 220m, and Fairytale Of New York by The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl with 170m plays. All three are usually the first to return to the Official Chart each December, often competing for spots in the Christmas Chart Top 10.
Completing the Top 5 are two more old favourites, Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone in fourth (136m), and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? at 5 (130m). The iconic charity single released in 1984 is one of the UK’s best-selling singles of all time, with over 3.8m pure sales, and continues to hold up well in the streaming era.
The highest-placed modern Christmas song - that is, festive songs released since 2010 - goes to Ariana Grande. The star's sparkly 2014 single Santa Tell Me is the UK’s eighth most-streamed Christmas track with 113m plays.
MORE: Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever
Other modern festive songs holding their own against the classics include Leona Lewis’ One More Sleep in 13th place (92m), Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath The Tree in 14th (85m), and Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe in 15th (82m).
Proving Christmas songs take a few years before they can truly enter the festive hall of fame, the newest song on the most-streamed chart is Sia's original Santa's Coming For Us, released in 2017, at Number 40.
If Mariah is the Queen of Christmas, then surely Michael Buble is the King. His Christmas album is the UK’s biggest festive-themed record with over 3 million chart sales, and four of its tracks rank among the Top 40 most-streamed Christmas songs, led by It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas in sixth (128m).
The Official Top 40 most-streamed Christmas Songs
| TITLE | ARTIST | |
| 1 | ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU | MARIAH CAREY |
| 2 | LAST CHRISTMAS | WHAM! |
| 3 | FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK | POGUES FT KIRSTY MACCOLL |
| 4 | MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE | SHAKIN' STEVENS |
| 5 | DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS | BAND AID |
| 6 | IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE | MICHAEL BUBLE |
| 7 | STEP INTO CHRISTMAS | ELTON JOHN |
| 8 | SANTA TELL ME | ARIANA GRANDE |
| 9 | I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY | WIZZARD |
| 10 | ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE | BRENDA LEE |
| 11 | DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS | CHRIS REA |
| 12 | MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY | SLADE |
| 13 | ONE MORE SLEEP | LEONA LEWIS |
| 14 | UNDERNEATH THE TREE | KELLY CLARKSON |
| 15 | MISTLETOE | JUSTIN BIEBER |
| 16 | HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) | JOHN & YOKO/PLASTIC ONO BAND |
| 17 | IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR | ANDY WILLIAMS |
| 18 | WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME | PAUL MCCARTNEY |
| 19 | HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS | MICHAEL BUBLE |
| 20 | CHRISTMAS LIGHTS | COLDPLAY |
| 21 | JINGLE BELL ROCK | BOBBY HELMS |
| 22 | WHITE CHRISTMAS | BING CROSBY |
| 23 | SLEIGH RIDE | RONETTES |
| 24 | LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW | DEAN MARTIN |
| 25 | SANTA BABY | KYLIE MINOGUE |
| 26 | MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD | BONEY M |
| 27 | CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME) | DARLENE LOVE |
| 28 | LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS | MUD |
| 29 | 2000 MILES | PRETENDERS |
| 30 | STOP THE CAVALRY | JONA LEWIE |
| 31 | SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN | MICHAEL JACKSON & JACKSON FIVE |
| 32 | HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS | SAM SMITH |
| 33 | LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW | FRANK SINATRA |
| 34 | BLUE CHRISTMAS | ELVIS PRESLEY |
| 35 | FELIZ NAVIDAD | JOSE FELICIANO |
| 36 | THE CHRISTMAS SONG | NAT KING COLE |
| 37 | BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE | IDINA MENZEL FT MICHAEL BUBLE |
| 38 | CHRISTMAS TIME (DON'T LET THE BELLS END) | DARKNESS |
| 39 | SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN | MICHAEL BUBLE |
| 40 | SANTA'S COMING FOR US | SIA |
©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
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Blueberry Muffin
Fairytale Of New York #3.
I make a early New Year's resolution to learn to appreciate this song. I never have before
But I must be wrong.
keightley1980
not even a Cliff song in the 40
Blank
Aka the all-times chart in 20 years time!
JA
John Ashton
What no David Bowie? very disappointing!!!
Bengy
Wot? no Cliff Richard record?
🧡 oliviasnoodles 🍜
the fact that 2000 miles and the christmas song (two 10/10 classics) are at numbers 30 and 38 respectively already make them underrated... lol.