Jess Battison
The official Christmas number one for 2024 has been announced.
With festive tunes of past and present having filled pretty much every public space for the last month or so, we’ve all got our favourites.
And this year, it felt like there was some tough music competition in the UK for the top spot. Of course, there’s always Mariah Carey and Slade, but 2024 had some new faces in the mix with Tom Grennan’s ‘It Can’t Be Christmas’ and Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘A Nonsense Christmas’.
But for the second year in a row, it’s ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! that’s taken the place of the UK Christmas Number 1 2024.
To many fans’ surprise, last year was actually the first time the bop claimed the title despite knocking about since 1984.
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It’s a biggie for the George Michael creation too as Official Charts confirm ‘Last Christmas’ is the first song in chart history to ever clinch two consecutive Christmas Number 1 victories. Also, it marks its 40th anniversary as the most-streamed and physically purchased song of the week.
The track secured the spot through both digital and physical domination, with a whopping 12.6 million streams.
Speaking to Official Charts, WHAM!’s Andrew Ridgeley says: "37 years to get to Number 1, 39 years to Christmas Number 1, and then like London buses they all come along at once!
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"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!”
This second Christmas Number 1, puts Wham! in the rare group of acts to achieve it multiple times. Their peers now include: Queen (two), Spice Girls (three), The Beatles (four) and the current record-holders, LadBaby (five).
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The second place in the UK Official Singles Chart for Christmas is taken by Gracie Abrams’ with ‘That’s So True’.
She’s followed by Mariah Carey’s now 30-year-old ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ with Tom Grennan landing in fourth.
ROSÉ and Bruno Mars round off the Christmas Top 5 with their track 'APT'.
Not necessarily getting the number one single, Sabrina Carpenter does however take the title of Official Christmas Number 1 Album with Short n’ Sweet.
The UK Official Singles Chart Top 10 for 20-26 December 2024: