List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones

A black and white photograph of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley of the group Wham!
Wham!'s "Last Christmas", originally released in 1984, is the most-recent Christmas number one

In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume of record sales in the UK has peaked at Christmas.

The Christmas number one is considered especially prestigious, more so than any other time of year. Christmas number-one singles have often also been the best-selling song of the year, though in recent years they have been released by reality television contestants and charity efforts. Due to the common practice of dating a chart by the date on which the week ends, the Christmas chart is dated the end of the week containing 25 December. The most recent Christmas number one single is "Last Christmas" by Wham!.

History

Publicity photograph of Al Martino from 1952
Al Martino was the first person to reach Christmas number one, in 1952

The UK Singles Chart began in 1952 – appearing in the New Musical Express. The positions of all songs are based on weekly sales (from Sunday to Saturday until 2015, then from Friday to Thursday). Before 1987, they were released on a Tuesday due to the need for manual calculation. The emergence of a serious contest for the Christmas number-one spot began in 1973, when the glam rock bands Slade and Wizzard deliberately released festive songs in an effort to reach the top of the charts at Christmas, with Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" beating Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The Christmas number-one single was not revealed on Christmas Day itself until 1994.

From 2002 until 2014, the competition for the Christmas number one was dominated by reality television contests, with the winners often heading straight to number one in the week before Christmas. This trend began when Popstars: The Rivals contestants released the top three singles on the Christmas chart. Between 2005 and 2014, the winners of The X Factor took the number-one spot on seven occasions. In 2007, the X Factor single was such a strong favourite for number one that bookmakers began taking bets on which song would be the "Christmas Number Two" instead. Rage Against the Machine's 1992 single "Killing in the Name" outsold Joe McElderry in 2009 following a successful Facebook campaign against this trend. This made them the first group to get a Christmas number one with a download-only single, and resulted in the most download sales in a single week in UK chart history. Similar campaigns in 2010 promoting acts such as Biffy Clyro, John Cage and the Trashmen were unsuccessful.

In 2011, the Military Wives and Gareth Malone, both involved with the reality television show The Choir, outsold X Factor winners Little Mix and a host of social network campaigns for various novelty acts. In 2012, a supergroup cover of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", supporting charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster, reached the number one ahead of The X Factor's James Arthur. Following the UK Charts' move to Fridays, the Christmas number one is revealed on Christmas Day whenever it falls on a Friday, such as in 2015 and 2020; the former year's chart was the first in a decade to not feature the X Factor winner's single in the top two. Amazon Music has released a number of exclusive festive tracks since 2018, recorded with acts such as Justin Bieber, Jess Glynne, and Ellie Goulding, none of which have topped the Christmas chart, though Goulding's track later reached number one. More recently, non-traditional acts have been successful with novelty songs released for charity; most notably, YouTuber LadBaby achieved number one every year between 2018 and 2022, each time raising money for the Trussell Trust, before voluntarily ending their streak by not releasing a Christmas single in 2023.

Records

LadBaby is the act with the most Christmas number ones with five, surpassing the Beatles' previous record in 2022. On two occasions, in 1963 and 1967, the Beatles had both the Christmas number one and the number two, the first act to have achieved this. As part of two acts, George Michael repeated the feat with Band Aid and Wham! in 1984, and Ed Sheeran did so in 2017 with duets with Beyoncé and Eminem, and again in 2021 with duets with LadBaby and Elton John. Paul McCartney has been top eight times with various acts (four as The Beatles, and one each as Wings, Band Aid, Band Aid 20, and The Justice Collective). Cliff Richard has spent four Christmases at number one; two as a solo act, one with The Shadows and one as part of Band Aid II. The Spice Girls later equalled the then-record of three consecutive Christmas number ones, from 1996 to 1998; Spice Girl Melanie C achieved a fourth Christmas number one as a member of the Justice Collective in 2012, which also gave Robbie Williams his third. In 2022, LadBaby became the first act to achieve five consecutive number ones.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, which reached the number-one spot at Christmas 1975 and 1991, is the only record to have reached the top twice. "Mary's Boy Child" is the only song to be Christmas number one for two artists — Harry Belafonte in 1957 and Boney M. in 1978 — although "Do They Know It's Christmas?" has been Christmas number one for three generations of Band Aid. The original version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is the second-bestselling single in UK history (behind "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John), while "Bohemian Rhapsody" is third.

List

The Beatles had four Christmas number ones during the 1960s, three of which were consecutive
Slade reached number one with a Christmas-themed novelty song in 1973
Bob Geldof, creator of charity supergroup Band Aid who, with "Do They Know It's Christmas?", were Christmas number one in three incarnations
"Bohemian Rhapsody", by Queen, reached the number one slot twice, in 1975 and 1991
Cliff Richard, who reached the number one slot at Christmas three times (four times with the inclusion of Band Aid II)
The Spice Girls had three consecutive Christmas number ones in the 1990s
Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" reached number one in 2002, edging out their fellow Popstars: The Rivals contestants One True Voice's "Sacred Trust"
Rage Against the Machine's record "Killing in the Name" achieved the Christmas number one in 2009, 17 years after the song's original release.
Year Primary Artist Song Weeks at
No. 1
1952 Al Martino "Here in My Heart" 9
1953 Frankie Laine "Answer Me" 8
1954 Winifred Atwell "Let's Have Another Party" 5
1955 Dickie Valentine "Christmas Alphabet" 3
1956 Johnnie Ray "Just Walkin' in the Rain" 7
1957 Harry Belafonte "Mary's Boy Child" 7
1958 Conway Twitty "It's Only Make Believe" 5
1959 Emile Ford and the Checkmates "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" 6
1960 Cliff Richard and the Shadows "I Love You" 2
1961 Danny Williams "Moon River" 2
1962 Elvis Presley "Return to Sender" 3
1963 The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" 5
1964 "I Feel Fine" 5
1965 "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" 5
1966 Tom Jones "Green, Green Grass of Home" 7
1967 The Beatles "Hello, Goodbye" 7
1968 The Scaffold "Lily the Pink" 4
1969 Rolf Harris "Two Little Boys" 6
1970 Dave Edmunds "I Hear You Knocking" 6
1971 Benny Hill "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" 4
1972 Jimmy Osmond "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" 5
1973 Slade "Merry Xmas Everybody" 5
1974 Mud "Lonely This Christmas" 4
1975 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" 9
1976 Johnny Mathis "When a Child Is Born (Soleado)" 3
1977 Wings "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" 9
1978 Boney M. "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" 4
1979 Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" 5
1980 St Winifred's School Choir "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" 2
1981 The Human League "Don't You Want Me" 5
1982 Renée and Renato "Save Your Love" 4
1983 The Flying Pickets "Only You" 5
1984 Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas?" 5
1985 Shakin' Stevens "Merry Christmas Everyone" 2
1986 Jackie Wilson "Reet Petite" 4
1987 Pet Shop Boys "Always on My Mind" 4
1988 Cliff Richard "Mistletoe and Wine" 4
1989 Band Aid II "Do They Know It's Christmas?" 3
1990 Cliff Richard "Saviour's Day" 1
1991 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives" 5
1992 Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You" 10
1993 Mr Blobby "Mr Blobby" 3
1994 East 17 "Stay Another Day" 5
1995 Michael Jackson "Earth Song" 6
1996 Spice Girls "2 Become 1" 3
1997 "Too Much" 2
1998 "Goodbye" 1
1999 Westlife "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" 4
2000 Bob the Builder "Can We Fix It?" 3
2001 Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman "Somethin' Stupid" 3
2002 Girls Aloud "Sound of the Underground" 4
2003 Michael Andrews and Gary Jules "Mad World" 3
2004 Band Aid 20 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" 4
2005 Shayne Ward "That's My Goal" 4
2006 Leona Lewis "A Moment Like This" 4
2007 Leon Jackson "When You Believe" 3
2008 Alexandra Burke "Hallelujah" 3
2009 Rage Against the Machine "Killing in the Name" 1
2010 Matt Cardle "When We Collide" 3
2011 Military Wives with Gareth Malone "Wherever You Are" 1
2012 The Justice Collective "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" 1
2013 Sam Bailey "Skyscraper" 1
2014 Ben Haenow "Something I Need" 1
2015 Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir "A Bridge over You" 1
2016 Clean Bandit "Rockabye" ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie 9
2017 Ed Sheeran "Perfect" 6
2018 LadBaby "We Built This City" 1
2019 "I Love Sausage Rolls" 1
2020 "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" 1
2021 "Sausage Rolls for Everyone" ft. Ed Sheeran and Elton John 1
2022 "Food Aid" 1
2023 Wham! "Last Christmas" 6

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-02-07 17:59 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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