Starting off strong, 19.5% of Brits have revealed that the Christmas song they hate the most is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You“; but the Mariah Carey hate doesn’t stop there: not only is her Christmas hit the UK’s least favourite festive song, but most of the people interviewed (67%) couldn’t even name another song by Carey. However, the second is currently charting at number three in the UK, and has peaked multiple times at number one since its release thirty years ago; it is also, according to Official Charts, the most streamed Christmas song in the UK. Perhaps that 19.5% is the reason why Carey still has to get that Christmas number one.

At the second spot, 12% of interviewed Brits have said they can’t stand Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe“. The song was first released in 2011, as a lead singer of the Canadian-born artist’s first Christmas album. Currently, it is the UK’s nineteenth most streamed Christmas song, and has previously peaked at number 21 on UK charts in its release year.

At number three, a staple song in UK Christmas music: “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid, which took the Christmas Number One Crown in 1984 and held on to the position for five consecutive weeks in its release year. 11.9% Brits have stated that the song, which counts 110 weeks charting in the UK, is their least favourite. Despite this, even forty years after its release, the song is currently peaking at number twelve and is the seventh most streamed festive song this year.

The fourth spot for most hated Christmas songs, with 11.7% of Brits agreeing, is The Pogues’s “Fairytale Of New York“. The collaboration with Kirsty MacColl was released in 1987, and peaked at number two for two consecutive weeks. Currently, it is charting at number ten and is the third most streamed Christmas song. In 2023, the song was one of the main contenders for the Christmas Number One title due to The Pogues’s frontman Shane MacGowan passing; however, the song failed to achieve the position and only peaked at number four. Despite that 11.7%, a Christmas Number One is definitely in the future of the song.

Number five sees “I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard, which is said to be the least favourite of 10.9% Brits. It was released in 1973, produced and written by frontman Roy Wood; currently, the song is the tenth most streamed and charting at 28, with a previous peak at number ten in 2019.

The following positions include: Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)“, the seventeenth most streamed but disliked by 10.6%; “Christmas Time” by The Darkness is the least favourite of 10.5% Brits, “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives with 10.3% and, at number nine, Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad“.

The ten spot is taken by WHAM’s “Last Christmas“, with 10.1% disliking the song. Not only is WHAM!’s hit the second most streamed song according to UK charts, but this year it also won the Christmas Number One title for the second consecutive year. The song is truly the Christmas hit of multiple generations, despite more than one tenth of the population considers it the worst Christmas song.

Catch up on all the Christmas chart glory from yesterday We’re already counting down to #XmasNo1 2025… https://t.co/JmbNjQTC34

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) December 21, 2024

This year marks the 40^th anniversary of “Last Christmas”; for the occasion, special editions were released and the song became the most streamed and physically purchased of the week in the UK. But of course, the song’s popularity is not only due to the release of the new editions: “Last Christmas” is one of the most recognisable Christmas hits that are known all around the world. Plus, it was crowned Christmas number one last year as well, when it peaked at number one for four consecutive weeks between December and January.

 The song was first released in 1984, the year when Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” won the title. It eventually made its way to charts in 2007, when it peaked at fourteen. It then climbed charts year by year, appearing on the UK’s top 100 punctually every December, and finally reached the top five in 2018, peaking at number two right after Christmas. In the first week of 2021, “Last Christmas” finally peaked at number one and again in 2022 it spent two non-consecutive weeks at the top spot around Christmas.

The song finally won the title of Christmas Number One in 2023, where it held on to the number one position all the way through December, 39 years after it was released. It became the song with the longest journey to Christmas Number One in the UK.

WHAM! now becomes one of the very few artists to have multiple Christmas Number Ones. Other artists on the list are Queen, with two songs, the Spice Girls with three songs and the Beatles with four songs.

Other contenders for this year’s title were Gracie Abrams, who currently charts at number two, Rose and Bruno Mars with “Apt” at number five, Tom Grennan with newly released “It Can’t Be Christmas” and Christmas pop queen Mariah Carey, who loses the title to WHAM! once again. This year marked the 30^thanniversary of “All I want for Christmas is You”, and if took WHAM! 30 years then the next decade might just see Carey finally getting the crown.

WHAM! “Last Christmas” is on its 103^rd week in the top 100, and eight as number one. The song first begun charting in 2007, many years after its first release in December 1984. It took almost forty years for the song to achieve the number one position, despite being one of the most popular Christmas songs ever released. It achieved the number one position in 2021 and 2023, peaking at one around Christmas in 2022 but failing to hold on to the position over Christmas day. Will it take the title again this year?

Right after “Last Christmas”, Gracie Abrams is still holding on to the top five with her hit song “That’s so True” off of the deluxe edition of “The Secret of Us”, her second full length album. This is Abrams’s first song to achieve such a high position, which has granted her a fanbase big enough to play a sold-out show at the London’s O2 Arena next year. Will Abrams hold on to the title long enough, or will it lose spots to give space to other Christmas hits?

At number three, Mariah Carey is getting closer and closer to that number one spot that “All I want for Christmas is You” has never reached over Christmas. In 2021 and 2023, the song reached the top spots of UK charts in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but each time lost the place before the Christmas number one of the year could be announced. Is this Mariah’s year? The song is already playing all over radios all throughout the UK, and it is perhaps seen worldwide as the most iconic of all Christmas songs. It’s only a couple more spots to climb, and the title goes to Carey!

Rosè and Bruno Mars’s “APT” is still charting in the top five, on its eight week in UK’s charts. After peaking at number two, the song has held on the top spots tight despite the growing number of Christmas songs climbing the charts.

Finally, at number five, Brenda Lee’s “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” is climbing up the charts. It’s its 78^th week charting, and has, so far, only peaked at number four in 2023. But this is the song’s fourth year in the top five. Does this mean 2024 is Lee’s year? Only time will tell.

The Christmas number one will be announced on the BBC Radio 1 on December 20.

The official race for this year’s Christmas number one begins on Friday December 13 and the winner will be revealed live on the BBC Radio 1’s Official Charts show on December 20.

It’s here

It’s happening

Meet your 2024 #XmasNumber1 contenders: https://t.co/jwX3N5lhCW#ChristmasNumber1 pic.twitter.com/74Gg1w0vo1

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) November 22, 2024

In previous years, the title had been won by artists such as the Spice Girls, the Beatles and Bob the Builder. Last year, WHAM finally achieved number one with the hit “Last Christmas”. WHAM’s Andrew Ridgeley revealed to Official Charts that the song was written with the goal of obtain the number one position at Christmas, and they finally accomplished the mission after years.

According to Official Charts, the artists that this past years have topped charts are all in good standing to win the Christmas title. Gracie Abrams is currently the holder of the number one position, Sabrina Carpenter has spent week charting in the top five and top ten with her album “Short n Sweet” and Chappell Roan’s viral sensation “Hot To Go” could climb up to number one in no time. Some of the songs currently topping charts also have a chance: Rose and Bruno Mars’s “Apt” or “Defying Gravity” off the Wicked soundtrack or Tate McRae’s “2 Hands”.

Besides the non-festive songs and artists topping charts, some new Christmas singles were released this year. Ed Sheeran’s “Under The Tree” is coming out on December 6, written for Richard Curtis’s new Christmas film. Former Little Mix star Perrie also released a new single: “Christmas Magic” is out now. Kelly Clarkson’s “You For Christmas” is also out, along with Michael Bublé’s collaboration with Carly Pearce titled “Maybe This Christmas”.

Some Christmas classics that might take the win are Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is You”, which has surprisingly never achieved number one, which had lost it when first released to Walthamstow band East 17. The band is now trying for a Christmas number one again, after releasing new vinyl’s to raise funds for the UK’s biggest music therapy charity, Nordoff and Robbins.

Another song that is likely to top charts is, once again, WHAM’s “Last Christmas”, which is already playing on radios. When first released, “Last Christmas” lost the title to Band Aid’s “Do they know it’s Christmas?”. This year, both songs are turning forty and Band Aid has released an exclusive new version to celebrate the anniversary and hoping to get the number one spot again.

The official race for this year’s Christmas number one begins on Friday December 13 and the winner will be revealed live on the BBC Radio 1’s Official Charts show on December 20.

Interestingly, this is the first time that George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s song has reached number one during Christmas week. Ridgeley expressed his delight and humility at achieving this milestone, stating,“It’s marvellous and humbling to have got there. Top of the pile is a great place to be.” He added that Michael, who died in 2016, had always wanted the song to be a Christmas number one.”He felt any great songwriter should be able to write a Christmas hit to order. Unfortunately, it’s taken too long for George – but he’d be absolutely over the moon.”

The Top Five Christmas Songs

1. Wham! – “Last Christmas”
2. Sam Ryder – “You’re Christmas To Me”
3. Mariah Carey – “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
4. Noah Kahan – “Stick Season”
5. Ed Sheeran and Elton John – “Merry Christmas”

For the past five years, the charity campaigners LadBaby have secured the coveted Christmas number one spot with their singles aimed at raising funds for food-related causes. However, this year they decided not to participate, leaving the title up for grabs. Out of the top 40 songs this week, a total of 33 were Christmas-themed, including popular tracks like Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”

“Last Christmas” was written by George Michael in his childhood bedroom in February 1984. In an interview with Smash Hits in 1986, he confidently stated, “As far as I was concerned, it was a number one.” The inspiration for the song struck unexpectedly while the singer was spending time at his parents’ house in Hertfordshire. According to Andrew Ridgeley, Michael’s bandmate, “There was a footy match on the telly and he suddenly jumped up and disappeared upstairs where he had a little four-track studio. About an hour later, he came back and said, ‘Andy Andy, you’ve got to listen to this’. I rarely saw him as excited or as animated as that. And as soon as I heard it, it was so apparent that it had all the hallmarks of a Christmas classic. It was a jaw-dropping moment.”

@smoothradio The story of Last Christmas, told by Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley #lastchristmas #lastchristmaschallenge #georgemichael #andrewridgeley #smoothradio Last Christmas –

The song was then recorded in August at London’s Advision Studios, which Michael adorned with Christmas decorations to create the right atmosphere. When the duo played the song for their families, Ridgeley recalled, “It claimed its first victim. One of my mother’s friends had a romance at Christmas, which is what the song is about. She got jilted and when she heard it, she burst into tears.”

The iconic and cheerful music video, featuring Wham!’s backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie and model Kathy Hill, was filmed later that year in Switzerland. In addition to the memorable chunky knitwear and the prominent silver brooch, the video also marked the final time Michael would be seen without his trademark designer stubble.

Sam Ryder emerged as a strong competitor to Wham! this year with his track “You’re Christmas To Me.” this track received a boost in the charts thanks to support from Amazon. Despite an extensive publicity campaign, Ryder couldn’t surpass Wham!’s dominance but remained enthusiastic about his achievement. The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl also made a bid for the number one spot with “Fairytale of New York,” landing in sixth place.

After news of the late Shane MacGowan’s death, aged 65, last Thursday, his wife Victoria Mary Clarke reportedly told the BBC she would love to see the song at the top of the charts. On BBC Radio 4 Clarke said “It would be nice, wouldn’t it?… It should be Christmas number one, it absolutely should. I’m very much in favour of that.” 

The wife of Shane MacGowan, Victoria Mary Clarke, tells @MarthaKearney on #R4Today she hopes Fairytale of New York will be Christmas No 1.

Hear her memories of The Pogues frontman, who died this week aged 65, and how he enjoyed watching programmes about the Royal Family.

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) December 2, 2023

The Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band The Pogues, fronted by Shane MacGowan, reached international heights with their popular hit ‘Fairytale of New York’  back in 1987. The duet with Kirsty MacColl quickly became a favourite of the UK and Irish nations, reaching number one in the Irish charts and number two in the British charts over Christmas. It has returned to the top 40 every year since 2005. Although, despite it being the third most streamed Christmas song in the UK, it has surprisingly never reached number one in Britain. 

The nostalgic song follows the story of two lovers, Irish immigrants in New York City, who quarrel and reminisce on Christmas Eve about their early love life. The song received huge criticism due to the fact it uses the word “faggot”, deemed offensive to homosexual people and in 2007, was briefly censored by the BBC. However, following protests from fans and the late Kirsty MacColl’s mother, the censorship was lifted. 

Watch the official video for ‘Fairytale of New York’ here

As it currently stands, ‘Last Christmas’ by the pop duo Wham!  is on track to take the number one spot next Friday. The duo consists of the late George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley and has been a crowd-pleaser every year since its release in 1986. Mariah Carey is close behind, moving from number six to number two, with her classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. However, The Pogues are competing currently at spot number three. 

Watch Wham!’s Last Christmas below

There is also a new festive song by Eurovision’s Sam Ryder ‘You’re Christmas to Me’, released solely on Amazon Music, which is currently placing at number four in the UK singles chart.

The 2023 Christmas title will be announced in less than three weeks live on BBC Radio 1’s The Official Chart show on December 22.