Wham! have etched their name in chart history, as Last Christmas becomes the first track to achieve the Christmas number one position for two consecutive years.
Originally launched in December 1984, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley experienced a 39-year wait to finally claim the holiday top spot.
During the year of its initial release, they were overshadowed by Band Aid’s charity anthem Do They Know It’s Christmas?, a song that has controversially been revitalized and returned to the charts once more this year.
George Michael, Bob Geldolf, Bono, Freddie Mercury, and Andrew Ridgley at the Live Aid concert in 1985. Pic: AP
Having been re-released this year to commemorate its 40th anniversary, Last Christmas has emerged as the most-streamed and physically bought track of the week, as per the Official Charts Company.
Last year, the song set the record for the longest-ever ascent to number one just in time for Christmas Day.
Ridgeley expressed to the Official Charts that his late bandmate Michael, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2016 at the age of 53, would be “absolutely thrilled” that the song has become a beloved holiday staple.
He noted: “Thirty-seven years to achieve number one, 39 years to become the Christmas number one, and then like London buses, they all arrive at once!
“I am particularly happy for George; he would have been absolutely thrilled that his magnificent Christmas creation has turned into such a classic, nearly as integral to Christmas as mince pies, turkey, and pigs in blankets.
“This is a tribute to an exceptional Christmas song that evokes and embodies the Christmas many people wish to experience.”
Official Charts chief Martin Talbot stated that Last Christmas is “undoubtedly now recognized as the British public’s all-time favorite Christmas song”.
Which other artists made it onto the Christmas charts?
American pop artist Gracie Abrams claimed second place in the Christmas week charts with her latest single That’s So True.
Mariah Carey commemorated thirty years since the release of All I Want For Christmas Is You by capturing the third position.
Tom Grennan achieved a personal best with his new track It Can’t Be Christmas, a collaboration with Amazon Music Original, taking the fourth rank.
Additionally, Blackpink’s Rose secured fifth place with her dance hit Apt in partnership with US artist Bruno Mars.
Discover more:
The formula for achieving a Christmas number one
All I Want For Christmas Is You turns 30
Meanwhile, in the Official Albums Chart, US pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter capped off a remarkable year by clinching the Christmas number one album title with Short N’ Sweet.
She triumphed over Canadian crooner Michael Buble, whose holiday album Christmas secured second place.
US artist Chappell Roan, who also had a breakthrough year, landed in third place with her hit debut The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess.
Global icon Taylor Swift and indie rock band The Reytons took fourth and fifth places in the album rankings, respectively.
