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.

Last Friday, the winner of the 2025 Christmas number one title was announced to be WHAM!’s “Last Christmas“, for the second year in a row. While, among the most popular songs of the week, Michael Buble has a few charting from his 2011 album titled “Christmas“. If Mariah Carey is the queen of Christmas, Buble might as well be the King of the December holidays. Despite Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n Sweet” has claimed the number one position in this week’s albums chart, Buble’s “Christmas” is predicted to reach this Friday’s top spot on charts. Currently, the album is charting at number two.

“Christmas” was first released in 2011, and debuted on charts in its release year in early November. Quickly, the album and Buble himself became synonyms with Christmas: in the year of its debut, “Christmas” climbed charts peaking at number one for three non-consecutive weeks, including Christmas week, and stayed charting at the top spots of the UK charts for the months of December and November. Despite the acclaimed debut and the public’s love for the album, Michael Buble’s “Christmas” struggled to make its way into the top five for the years following its debut and never peaked at number one again until January of 2021.

In 2021, in fact, “Christmas” peaked at number one on the first week of January. But during the month of December of 2021, despite having achieved the top spot earlier in the year, “Christmas“‘s peak was only number three. But Buble would re-claim that number one position the following year, and the year after as well! In 2022 and 2023 Buble peaked again, for two consecutive years, at number one. And according to Official Charts, this year the same might happen!

Overall, Buble’s “Christmas” has spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on UK charts. It is one of Buble’s five albums which have peaked at number one in the UK, and overall the Canadian-born artist has spent 559 weeks charting in the top albums. The album “Christmas” alone is responsible for 118 of those weeks, and possibly another one coming this Friday!

Despite the success reached with his albums, Buble has still to get a UK top one song. Despite his Christmas albums is always one of the most played of the year, it has never granted Buble a number one hit song. Instead, the artist has three UK top tens, and 18 songs in the wider top 75.

In the past couple years, every time Buble would claim the number one spot it would be the week right after Christmas, is this year going to be the same? Will “Christmas” reclaim that number one spot that it has yet to achieve this year?

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.

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The original single, created by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984, went to number 1 in the UK for five weeks and successfully sold over 3 million copies. The original inspiration to create Band Aid came as a reaction to the BBC news reports of October 1984 of countless people starving to death in Ethiopia. This prompted the general public to donate to worldwide children charities and eventually to Geldof and Ure to create the single, and with it, an immensely important legacy. 

This tradition continues 40 years later. Band Aid 40 is set to feature a mix of previous artists, including pre-recorded voices of those who have since passed away, such as George Michael (2016) and Sinead O’Connor (2023). Overall, the Band Aid Charitable Trust has reportedly raised over £140 million in the past 40 years. 

In 1985, the year following the original “Do They Know It’s Christmas’ release, the first ever Live Aid took place. The charity benefit concert was founded by Geldof and Ure following the success of the first single. It took place in Wembley Stadium, London, with a partner concert happening simultaneously in Pennsylvania, USA. The concert, which was shown in 150 countries, raised £114 million.

The single has been rerecorded on previous occasions, notably for the 20th and 30th anniversaries. In 2004 for the 20th anniversary version, more commonly known as Band Aid 20, artists such as Chris Martin of Coldplay, Bono of U2 and Fran Healy of Travis, all featured. On this occasion, the aim was to provide relief for Darfur, a region in the country of Sudan. 

In 2014 for the 30th anniversary, known as Band Aid 30, artists such as One Directions, Rita Ora, Ed Sheeran and more all featured. This single aimed to raise money for the Ebola Crisis in Western Africa, which was rampant in 2014. According to The Guardian, when this single debuted on X Factor, the single raised £1 million in minutes.

Producer Trevor Horn has worked on the song to blend a mix of old and new voices. According to the BBC, artists including Ed Sheeran, Sting, Boy George, Sugababes, Sam Smith, Bono and Chris Martin will all be a part of the song, as well as Harry Styles, Rita Ora, Guy Garvey, Seal, Robbie Williams, Kool and the Gang, and Underworld.  The new version is set to release on streaming services and radio on November 25. It will also be released in physical CD and LP form November 29. 

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.

Last Thursday, the 9th of November, the British company, John Lewis Partnership (which covers Waitrose and John Lewis) released its latest ad ‘Snapper, The Perfect Tree’. The ad features a “cheeky carnivorous plant” and is accompanied by “Operatic Superstar” Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli sings the beautiful Italian song “Festa”, meaning ‘Party’ or ‘Celebration’.

In the video, a small boy picks up a ‘grow your own tree’ box at a small Christmas market. At home, the small sapling starts to grow, with the piano chords speeding up into a steady pace and a big drumbeat signalling a change and positivity. As the plant turns into a big Venus the family is not impressed, and the plant is replaced with a standard pine Christmas tree. At this point, the thick musical texture diminishes and there is just a solo piano, Bocelli’s voice and backing vocals. At the end of the video, all the family go outside to celebrate Christmas Day with Snapper, the plant.

The moral of the video is to “Let your traditions grow”, which is an important and kind message to share with the UK nation although it divided audiences, with one X (Twitter) user saying the advert was “a disappointment”. 

Many others enjoyed the advert, with one saying “Thank you John Lewis for making my mum smile.  It’s a tradition I show her your ad morning of release. My dad died a few months ago, we’re all so sad, especially Mum. It made us smile. Sending kindness + love”.

However, it seemingly got many adult males on the defence, hitting out at the fact there was no adult male presence, with some ranting “Where’s The Dad???!!” and “Being a dad, I’ll shop somewhere else this Christmas, thanks”. John Lewis replied succinctly “‘Showing a mum and a grandma, we always attempt to show a broad representation of British life across our advertising. This is a very realistic scenario for thousands of families in the UK.’

Catherine Shuttleworth, CEO of Savvy Marketing commented “John Lewis has opted instead for a vision of a modern family Christmas. Let’s see if it works”

The John Lewis marketing team have also gone one step further, releasing ‘Snapper’ merch. Get it here

The adverts started circulating and becoming a topic of conversation in 2010 as Ellie Goulding covered Elton John’s “Your Song”. Then came the rising popularity of the song “The Power of Love” after Gabrielle Aplin’s rendition in 2012. The Bear and the Hare animation in 2013 was accompanied by Lily Allen’s sweet version of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” in 2013 and the Scandi singer Aurora covered  “Half The World Away” – by Oasis back in 2015. 

Other British supermarkets have taken different directions with their campaigns. Asda makes this Christmas “Incredibuble”, opting to use Canadian vocalist Michael Buble and Sainbury’s ‘Rickrolling’ people with a surprise appearance of Rick Astley in their ad. 

Watch the ‘Snapper, The Perfect Tree’ John Lewis advert here

The album features three original songs by the Grammy award-winning jazz and soul performer as well as jazz-age standards and soulful tracks from the 1960s. He mentions “In my writing, there are elements of Bill Withers, there is a song from Stevie Wonder..from Marvin Gaye”. There is also a guest performance from the American, Grammy-winning Samara Joy on Broadway songwriter Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”.

Listen to the album here

Following his summer stint playing three sold-out shows at “London’s Most Iconic Venue”, Royal Albert Hall this June, the singer is returning for a fourth and final performance of the year on December 13th – get tickets here (There is only standing availability on offer now). The London show will be part of his current winter tour in both the UK and internationally. 

Described as “a jazz singer of thrilling presence, a booming baritone with a gift for earthy refinement and soaring uplift”, Gregory Porter has become known for many things: his outstanding voice, his ability to bring audiences to joyful tears and ‘lo and behold’ his hat, which he wears every time he performs. 

Porter responded to curiosity about the hat, stating ‘I’ve had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for a while longer. People recognise me by it now. It is what it is.” 

Years later he added that it has become his style. He thought “Actually, this is comfortable, this is a look. I started to sing and people were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the guy with the hat.’ So it became a thing.” However, the vocalist reported that he would like his fans to focus on “his heart and sound” rather than the accessory. 

Porter was on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ earlier today, speaking of his first-ever festive album and also joining in some festive cooking. Whilst getting into the Christmas spirit, he showed viewers how he makes his family’s festive favourites,  sweet potato pie with crumbly shortcrust pastry.

Ex-Saturday’s singer and presenter Rochelle Humes questioned him on why he hasn’t put out a Christmas album before. Jestingly, he replied, “I wanted to start my career off with a Christmas album and they didn’t let me!…so now is the time”. He talked about elements of influence on him and his sound “Stylistically I’m using gospel, blues, soul to tell the Christmas story” 

Then on his mum’s influence, the woman who taught him how to sing, he says “There were 8 of us, 5 boys and 3 girls, she would cook food… Turkey, greens… sweet potato pie… filled the table with food. We thought we were gonna eat and we loaded it into the truck and we went around and fed the homeless people” “Then we brought the food back and we ate the leftovers…..she was teaching… she did it from her heart..that’s the kind of thing you do on Christmas day”. 

Another day, another Tay slay

Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) ends an incredible year by claiming 2022’s Official Christmas Number 1 album with #Midnights

Read the full story ➡ https://t.co/owb6I7lgxZ #XmasNo1 #TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/cfF052r2fq

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) December 23, 2022

The 33-year-old singer’s festive victory marks the second instance in which Midnight has topped the charts. Released on 21st October 2022, the album debuted at the top spot in the UK album charts and found success in streams, particularly within the platform Spotify. The release marks the tenth studio album by Swift and followed the 2020 release Folklore and Evermore.

 With its win this week, Midnight has now accumulated three weeks at the number one position. Its first entered the charts upon its release and debuted at number one, Midnight then outsold the competition again the following week and has remained in the top three until its triumphant return this festive season. Swift’s recent chart success marks the second time she has spent three weeks at number one. Released on 24th July 2020, Folklore also spent three weeks as the UK’s number-one album.

The success found with Midnight’s charting propelled Swift into the chart of the most popular singers, the “Bad Blood” singer has accumulated the second most number one albums in UK chart history. Swift has entered the top billing with a high stat of nine albums, Madonna remains at the top with twelve UK number-one albums.

Placing at number three within the official 2022 UK album charts is Christmas by Michael Buble, the crooner’s seasonal staple was released on 24th October 2011 and has remained a favourite for shoppers and listeners. Upon its initial release, the album was given a Juno Award for Album of the Year, creating a landmark moment as it was the first holiday-themed release to be given the accolade.

Placing at number four within this year’s annual album race is SOS by SZA, the American singer’s second and most recent album was released on 9th December 2022 via Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records, peaking at number two within the UK album charts. Closing off the top five is A Family Christmas by Andrea/Matteo/Virginia Bocelli, a compilation album created by Andrea Bocelli with a heavy focus on family and the Christmas spirit.

The fourth in lead was Mariah Carey’s 1994 Christmas hit “All I Want For Christmas”. Third, in lead was “Christmas Drillings” by British YouTube group Sidemen featuring British Rapper JME released on the 4th of December 2022, making it the first ever song within the drill genre to enter the festive chart.  The runner-up was Wham’s 1984 Christmas hit “Last Christmas”. 

Now LadBaby remains the King of his Christmas Number 1 throne, even beating The Beatles’ record of UK number one singles overall. All thanks to the UK’s Number one “Food Aid” (A cover of Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?“) which has now brought justice to charity campaigners. From the single alone, this has paved a way for profits to be split accordingly between the food bank charity, The Trussell Trust and the Band-Aid Trust.

LadBaby shared his thoughts with OfficialCharts.com, “I can’t quite believe it! We’re number one! The charity has made it five years in a row. How have we done this again? We want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us for the last five years. A massive apology to The Beatles, and to all The Beatles’ fans… I’m sorry! The charity wins. The Trussell Trust gets Christmas number one again!

“Thank you to all the people who have downloaded, all the people who believed in us and brought a bit of Christmas magic. We love you all. Yes mate!” 

Here are all of LadBaby’s five consecutive Number 1 single from 2018-2022:

2018: “We Built This City”

2019: “I Love Sausage Rolls”

2020: “Don’t Stop Me Eatin”

2021: “Sausage Rolls For Everyone” ft Ed Sheeran and Elton John

2022: “Food Aid” ft Martin Lewis

LadBaby refused to share his thoughts on making a sixth attempt on the charts next year. However, his wife Roxanne told the BBC her thoughts, “We didn’t want to come back this year but unfortunately, the food banks are in emergency crisis. We didn’t want to turn our backs on so many people. We get messages everyday from nurses, teachers, children and families who are struggling.  You don’t want music to become something people get annoyed with [but] that’s why we did it.”

LadBaby adds on to say, “We want to do whatever we can at Christmas to support food banks, and if that isn’t in the form of a song, it doesn’t mean we won’t show up somewhere else. Plans are always afoot. Don’t rule us out. You think we can’t sing? Wait until we go somewhere else and can’t do that, too.“

She wrote in her message “I don’t think any of us have ever known a year like this one. Life became incredibly frightening in the pandemic but just as we think it might be over soon, it seems to keep going. It’s a bombardment – the horrific war in Ukraine, the famines, the droughts, the floods… and we lost our Queen. Many of my friends were surprised at how upset they were at her death especially as we aren’t royalists, but I think her passing became a focus of grief, for unexpressed loss that so many people felt during the pandemic.” 

Furthermore in her message, she writes, “I wonder where on earth we’ll all be at the end next year, I hope the war will end. I hope that the nurses will be in a position where they are appreciated – they should be cherished. Let’s all hope that next year will be better than this one.”

One of her best highlights of the year which she described as a “crazy, roller coaster” was the success of her famous 1985 song ‘Running Up That Hill as it topped the charts in both the UK and Australia. Thanks to the iconic scene in Stranger Things featuring Max’s Song as she faces Vecna.

She owes the success of RUTH to her fans in the younger generation, especially the new fans who thought she was a new artist for reviving the song’s popularity and getting all the attention and recognition it deserves.

Kate Bush is currently trending on Twitter as her wonderful message has users blooming with love and support for Kate. One Twitter user said, “Kate Bush has posted a beautiful Christmas message on her website. Accompanied by a picture of a robin, she reflects on Ukraine, the death of the Queen, her hope that nurses are finally cherished (yes, Kate!) and the huge success of Running Up That Hill. Merry Christmas, Kate!”

Another Twitter user said, “Kate Bush gave the best Christmas message and I love her. Merry Christmas Kate!! And we should appreciate the nurses working to fight the ongoing pandemic like she said. Plus Kate is not a royalist confirmed!”