Wham!’s Last Christmas topped Christmas primary

Dec 22, 2023 at 6:59 PM
Wham!’s Last Christmas topped Christmas primary

Wham! has been declared the UK’s official Christmas primary with Last Christmas – 39 years after first being denied the festive prime spot.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s festive basic beat hits from Eurovision star Sam Ryder, Mariah Carey, and The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.

Ryder’s You’re Christmas To Me secured second place, adopted by Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Stick Season by Noah Kahan got here fourth and Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John got here fifth.

Written and produced by the late Michael, Last Christmas was crushed to the crown in 1984 by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The 80s pop duo’s hit has now set the file for the longest-ever journey to UK Christmas primary, in line with the Official Charts Company.

“It is a big moment, and it is a big moment for me and everyone involved with Wham! and George Michael,” Ridgeley instructed BBC Radio 1.

“He (Michael) wrote it with number one in mind, that was the goal. He happened to write what distills the essence of Christmas in audio form.

“It is a rare achievement. It makes it all of the extra great to expertise.”

When requested what it takes to put in writing a Christmas primary, Ridgeley mentioned: “That’s the magic, it is very difficult to identify quite what it is that makes a number one that has that breadth of appeal.

“What Yog (Michael) did with this observe was distilled what Christmas represents in many individuals’s minds.”

Sam Ryder
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Sam Ryder

In this Dec. 3, 2014 file photo, Mariah Carey performs at the 82nd Annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York. Caesars Palace announced Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, that the pop icon would launch a residency May 16 at The Colosseum in Las Vegas. Carey has announced 18 performances so far. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
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Mariah Carey in 2014

‘Huge disappointment’ to overlook out in 1984

Ridgeley mentioned it was a “huge disappointment” for the pair to not attain the highest spot in 1984 as they believed it was “nailed on”.

“Had it not been for Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?, it probably would’ve been number one,” the 60-year-old mentioned.

“Thwarted for many years subsequent to that – the perennial bridesmaid – over recent years it seems it’s become part of the fabric of Christmas for a lot of people.

“Christmas primary has been a long-held ambition for Yog (Michael) and I, and for the followers, too. It’ll imply quite a bit to Wham!’s legacy – it is the crowning glory.”

Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! Pic: Official Charts
Image:
Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! Pic: Official Charts

‘Fans may have an actual sense of feat’

Ridgeley mentioned the music was “conceived as a Christmas number one” as Michael had “lofty ambitions for himself as a songwriter”, earlier than the band cut up in 1986.

“Our fans will have a real sense of achievement and pride in the fact it’s become Christmas number one,” Ridgeley added.

Michael died on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53.

Last Christmas is now the UK’s third greatest music of all time, with a mixed lifetime whole of 5.34 million chart models, the Official Charts Company mentioned.

It was streamed 13.3 million occasions during the last seven days, making it the most-streamed Christmas primary ever throughout Christmas week.