Wham! return to Number 1 for fourth time with Last Christmas: “Christmas has come early – long may it continue!”

Plus, Pogues fan mourning Shane MacGowan bring Fairytale of New York back into the Top 5.

wham number 1 last christmas

Wham! make a spectacular return to Number 1 in the UK with their timeless classic Last Christmas.  

Jumping four places to the Official Singles Chart summit, Last Christmas celebrates a fourth non-consecutive week at Number 1 today, charging ahead with over 53,000 chart units. 

Originally released in 1984, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s contemplative festive ballad set a UK chart record in 2021 for the longest time taken by a song to reach Number 1, 36 years after its initial release (although this record was then broken in 2022 by Kate Bush with Running Up That Hill). It reached Number 1 for a second time in 2022, and for a third at the very beginning of 2023. 

Today marks the first time Last Christmas has reached Number 1 twice in the same calendar year, and now puts it as the song to beat for the most important Number 1 of the year, as the Official Christmas Number 1 race begins next Friday, December 15. 

Speaking exclusively to Official Charts celebrating Last Christmas’s return to Number 1, Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley says:  

“Christmas has indeed come early in 2023. I'm delighted that Last Christmas has once again reached the zenith of the Official Singles Chart, continuing a bit of trend in the 2020s. Long may that continue! 

“Merry Christmas, Happy New Year…and thank you!” 

WATCH Wham!'s Andrew Ridgeley accept the Official Number 1 Award for Last Christmas:

 

Wham!’s perennial Christmas rival, Mariah Carey, is also on the up today, with the festive queen jumping four spots to Number 2 with All I Want for Christmas is You, setting up an intense chart battle between the two in weeks to come. 

Following the sad news of Shane MacGowan’s death last week, fans of The Pogues have sent the band’s hit Fairytale of New York with Kirsty MacColl, flying back into the Top 5, up 14 places to Number 4. The track originally peaked at Number 2 upon its release in 1987, narrowly missing out on the Christmas Number 1 spot to Pet Shop BoysAlways On My Mind, but could it be a contender this year? 

More than half of the Top 10 is made up of Christmas songs today, including; Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (6) and Ed Sheeran & Elton John’s former chart-topper Merry Christmas (7), which was recently named as one of the biggest Christmas songs of the 21st century.  

They’re joined by Michael Bublé’s It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (8), Bobby Helms’ Jingle Bell Rock (9) and Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone (10). 

Further down, the record-breaking stack of Christmas hits invading the Singles Chart also features; Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me reaching a re-peak (11), Sam Ryder’s 2023 original You’re Christmas to Me (12), Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath the Tree (13), Andy Williams’s It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (15), Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? (16), Dean Martin’s Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (17) and John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Plastic Band’s Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (19). 

Taylor Swift earns this week’s highest new entry with the devastating synth ballad You’re Losing Me. A track released ‘from the vault’ of her 2022 chart-topping album Midnights, it debuts at Number 20 to become the superstar’s 52nd Top 40 hit. 

This week’s mega-compilation of Christmas record-breakers is completed by; Michael Bublé’s Holly Jolly Christmas reaching its highest-ever peak (21), Chris Rea’s Driving Home for Christmas (22), Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande’s Santa Can’t You Hear Me (23), Elton John’s Step Into Christmas (24), Jorja Smith’s cover of Stay Another Day (26), Sia’s Snowman reaching its highest position yet (27), Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime (28), The Ronette’s Sleigh Ride (29), Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (30), José Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad (32), Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe (38) and Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody (39) which celebrates the 50th anniversary of its 1973 release. 

Related artists

Related Articles

Join the conversation by joining the Official Charts community and dropping comment.

Already registered?

Log in

No account?

Register

avatar

jimross

1

Absolutely delighted its a classic well deserved a song that will never be matched and that George Michael's legacy lives on 

M

Midlands

2

No Cher or OneRepublic ???

Why don't NEW Christmas songs get anywhere now?

D

djcarbines

1

It's on the album chart. New Christmas songs that stay around only seem to happen once every 5 years or so this century.

M

Midlands

0

It's about time there was a different way of doing that he charts. This is absolutely pathetic every December that comes. 



avatar

Piran

1

Huh? 29 Christmas songs in the Top 40 definitely isn't a record. I swear there were like 30-35 of them back in the first chart of this year. 🤔

avatar

Velvet Android

0

You're bang on, Piran. It was the previous occasion Last Christmas was at Number One, too – and there were no less than 34 festive songs in the Top 40.

And, for that matter, 43 in the Top 50, 50 in the Top 60, 57 in the Top 70, fully 60 of the Top 75, and if my maths is correct that week's chart had a grand total of 72 of the Top 100 being Christmas songs.

D

djcarbines

1

Don't think it's been this many this early before. We still have 2 more weeks this year too, and the sales of the day itself announced for the new year week. Plenty of time to have even more Christmas dominance.