Wham! make chart history as 'Last Christmas' wins second consecutive festive number one

The festive classic, released by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in 1984, waited nearly four decades to claim its first Christmas number one title in 2023 and has now repeated the feat in 2024.

The track soared to the top spot again following the release of limited-edition collectibles celebrating its 40th anniversary. According to the Official Charts Company, Last Christmas was the most-streamed and physically purchased song of the week, solidifying its place as a Christmas staple.

Ridgeley said: “Thirty-seven years to get to number one, 39 years to Christmas number one, 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.”

Wham!’s chart-topping success edged out rising US pop star Gracie Abrams, who took second place with That’s So True. Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, which celebrated its 30th anniversary with a re-release of her album Merry Christmas, secured third place. Tom Grennan’s It Can’t Be Christmas, an Amazon Music Original collaboration, landed in fourth, marking a personal best for the singer. Blackpink’s Rose rounded out the top five with her hit Apt, featuring Bruno Mars.

In the Official Albums Chart, US pop star Sabrina Carpenter clinched the Christmas number one title with Short N’ Sweet, beating Michael Bublé’s perennial favourite Christmas, which took second. Rising star Chappell Roan’s debut album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess came in third, while Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department and The Reytons’ Clifton Park Live Album took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts said: “It is incredible to think that four years ago, Last Christmas was the biggest-selling single never to hit number one – and now it is the first consecutive Christmas number one in history,” he said. “It is surely, undeniably, established now as the British nation’s all-time favorite Christmas song.”