Last year WHAM!’s beloved holiday hit “Last Christmas,” originally released in 1984, became the U.K.’s Christmas #1, a prestigious chart honor that many artists vie for every year. The song has just been named the U.K.’s Christmas #1 for the second year in a row, making history in the process.
Since 1952, which is when the U.K.’s Official Charts began recognizing the Christmas #1, no song has ever held the title for two years in a row — until now, as “Last Christmas” manages the feat.
WHAM’s Andrew Ridgeley told Official Charts, “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.”
Andrew says he’s “especially pleased” for his WHAM! partner George Michael, who wrote the song and played every instrument on it. “He would have been utterly delighted [that] his fabulous Christmas composition has become such a classic,” he says. “George’s voice will endure forever.”
WHAM! is now one of the few acts that have scored multiple Christmas number ones, joining Queen, The Spice Girls and The Beatles.
George originally wrote “Last Christmas” specifically to be a Christmas #1, but in 1984 it was kept at #2 by Band Aid‘s “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” which George also appeared on. An entire documentary about the song and its journey, called Last Christmas Unwrapped, is now streaming on Netflix.
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