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Another Christmas Number 1 for WHAM!
In the year of its 40th anniversary, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s ‘Last Christmas’ has taken the top spot in the UK’s Official Christmas Number 1 single chart, for the second year running. Making history, as the first song to clinch two consecutive Christmas Number 1s.
Speaking to Official Charts, WHAM!’s Andrew Ridgeley said: “37 years to get to Number 1, 39 years to Christmas Number 1, and then like London buses they all come along at once! I’m especially pleased for George, he would have been utterly delighted, his fabulous Christmas composition has become such a classic, almost as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, turkey and pigs in blankets. It’s testament to a really wonderful Christmas song that in a lot of people’s minds evokes and represents Christmas as we would all wish it to be. I’d like to thank everyone who has listened to, downloaded, bought, streamed Last Christmas and been a part of history. Thanks so much and Merry Christmas!”
The festive classic from WHAM! was released in 1984 and was initially held off the Christmas top spot by Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’. After charting many times over the years, ‘Last Christmas’ finally reached No 1 in the UK Singles Chart on New Year’s Day 2021, with its first Christmas No 1 in 2023.
To mark four decades since its release, Wham!, George Micheal Entertainment and Sony Music launched a limited edition 40th anniversary EP. Additionally the BBC aired “WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped”, an hour-long special telling the story of how WHAM! turned one song into a cultural phenomenon. The nostalgic film featured key figures such as Andrew Ridgeley, Pepsi DeMacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp from the song’s history, as well as new interviews with WHAM! friends including Mary J Blige, Sir Bob Geldof, Neil Tennant and Sam Smith.
Also celebrating a milestone anniversary, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ has achieved the No 3 position in the Christmas charts, 30 years after its release. And Tom Grennan’s ‘It Can’t Be Christmas’ has become his highest-ever charting single in the UK, reaching No 4 in the biggest chart race of the year.
