Abigail Morris (lead vocalist), Georgia Davies (bass), and Lizzie Mayland (rhythm guitar) met in 2020 when they were enrolled at King’s College London together. The trio went on to form the band, originally called ‘The Dinner Party’, with Emily Roberts (lead guitar) and Aurora Nishevci (keys) from Guildhall School of Music & Drama joining them soon after. Crowned as the winners of this year’s BRITs Rising Star Award and the prestigious BBC Sound Of…2024 poll, The Last Dinner Party have had a whirlwind couple of months, securing their first-ever Official Singles Chart Top 40 entry just last week with the album’s lead single ‘Nothing Matters‘ charting at 22. ‘Prelude to Ecstasy‘ is expected to take the title, with BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders counting down to the top spot this Friday between 16:00 and 17:45PM GMT as part of the Official Chart Show.

The fearless five-piece have been highly active on social media this week, spreading the album far and wide and expressing their gratitude for the incredible reception it has received, commenting: “Sharing this magical week with each and every one of you up and down the country has been SO special. Our heartfelt gratitude to you all knows no bounds. Without one single doubt, you are our crème de la crème.”

We are delighted to say that our autumn adventures will be taken to even dizzier heights of frenzy and experimental trousers with new tour dates in Belfast, Dublin and London. Tickets on sale 8am tomorrow ❤️ https://t.co/OfK1Tll22x pic.twitter.com/wNVEcvwW31

— The Last Dinner Party (@lastdinnerparty) February 8, 2024

After building a word-of-mouth fanbase on the UK gig circuit over the past few years, The Last Dinner Party have now confirmed the dates for their upcoming European and North American Tour, as well as their first major UK/Ireland Tour this September and October. Presale tickets are currently available to purchase here for fans who have been granted a presale access code, with the General Sale commencing this Friday, February 9, from 8AM GMT. The tour will conclude in the group’s hometown at the iconic Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, on October 16.

Tearing ahead for their first potential UK Number 1, this is a band not at all flustered by a potential sell-by date, having already secured career-defining performances at this year’s Reading and Leeds and TRNSMT Festival, and even across the pond for Coachella. Serving up a fruitful debut, ‘Prelude to Ecstasy‘ is out now.

The Last Dinner Party 2024 UK/Ireland Tour

September

23/09/2024 – O2 City Hall – Newcastle
24/09 – O2 Academy – Leeds
25/09 – Octagon Centre – Sheffield
27/09 – The LCR, UEA – Norwich
28/09 – The Engine Shed – Lincoln
29/09 – Tramshed – Cardiff

October

18/09 – Belfast –  The Telegraph Building
01/10 – O2 Academy –Birmingham
02/10 – Rock City – Nottingham
04/10 – O2 Academy – Bristol
05/10 – O2 Guildhall – Southampton
07/10 – 3Olympia – Dublin
08/10 – 3Olympia – Dublin
10/10 – O2 Academy – Glasgow
11/10 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester
12/10 – Mountford Hall – Liverpool
14/10 – Corn Exchange – Cambridge
16/10 – Eventim Apollo – London
17/10 – Eventim Apollo – London

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.“

B.O.T.A. by @ElizaRosemuzik and @intergalacticz is Number 1

See the Top 100 https://t.co/kIQcwhKbwC pic.twitter.com/ioJK0JdWhM

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) September 3, 2022

After six weeks on the chart, “B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)” has climbed up the UK singles charts to become Rose’s debut number one. During an interview with Dazed magazine earlier this month, Rose spoke on her career’s origins and early musical influences. During the interview, Rose speaks of her first introduction to DJing and cites her initial foray to a work placement at London record shop Flashback when she was 15 years old.

Within the interview Rose stated, “I was really into Amy Winehouse at the time,  and through her I started getting into soul, jazz and disco. When I realised that all of this was Black culture, and I was able to hold this physical thing in my hand that represented black culture, that’s when I started getting into records.” Speaking with Official Charts, Rose has given the following statement, “I just want to say thank you to everyone who listened, streamed and downloaded. This is The People’s Rhythm and I feel like everyone came together to get this to Number 1. I never expected it in a million years. Thank you. It’s fabulous!”

Due to its popularity throughout this year’s festival season, the track has also been named this week’s most streamed song. Throughout the week, “B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)” has acquired over 4.8 million streams in the UK. The track was initially released on 15th June 2022 via Rose’s independent label Rosebud Recordings; due to the immense attention received, the track was picked up by major label Warner Music UK, who proceeded to release the radio edit on 12th August 2022. Much like the UK’s former number one single “Afraid To Feel” by LF System, the single also utilises the creative and production technique of sampling. Keen listeners can hear a sample of the classic Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam hit “Let The Beat ‘Em“, Rose and Interplanetary Criminal can be heard using the LL w/ Love RC mix of the 1991 song.

Following The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Cascada, @ElizaRosemuzik‘s B.O.T.A is an Official Chart milestone https://t.co/HDXp6Yidu0 — Official Charts (@officialcharts) September 3, 2022

With the Official Charts’ 70th anniversary fast approaching, this week’s top-selling track has become the UK’s 1,400th number one single. The music-orientated ranking system was established in 1952; the first song named the UK’s number one single was “Here In My Heart” by Al Martino. Other tracks to secure landmark chart positions include “Do You Mind?” by Anthony Newley, which became the UK’s 100th number one single. British legends The Beatles became the UK’s 200th number one single with their single “Help!“, seven years ago the UK’s last landmark position of 1,300 was given to Rachel Platten for “Fight Song“.

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Bush has shared a statement on her single’s revived popularity, “You might’ve heard that the first part of the fantastic, gripping new series of  ‘Stranger Things’  has recently been released on Netflix. It features the song, ‘Running Up That Hill’  which is being given a whole new lease of life by the young fans who love the show – I love it too! Because of this, Running Up That Hill is charting around the world and has entered the UK chart at No. 8. It’s all really exciting! Thanks very much to everyone who has supported the song. I wait with bated breath for the rest of the series in July.”

Due to the song’s chart success, “Running Up That Hill” has broken three UK Official Chart records. The first of which sees Bush break the record for the longest-ever gap between number one singles, her last number one was “Wuthering Heights”. The track reached the top of the UK singles charts in 1978, making a 44-year time difference between its win and Bush’s chart success this week.  The record was previously held by Welsh crooner Tom Jones with a gap of over 42 years, the singer scored a hit with “Green Green Grass Of Home” in 1966 then again in 2009 with the charity single “(Barry) Islands In The Stream”.

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The second Official chart record to be broken sees Bush claim the longest time in which a song has taken to chart as a number one single, after first entering the charts in 1985 the track has finally climbed to the top after 37 years of existence. Up until this week, the UK Official Chart record was owned by British pop icons Wham!, the band’s beloved festive hit “Last Christmas” was originally released in 1984 and first topped the Official UK Singles Chart on New Year’s Day 2021.

The third and final UK Official Chart record broken by Bush sees the 63 years and 11 months old singer named the oldest female artist to claim a Number One Single. The three-time Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominee claimed the record from its previous holder Cher, the American singer was 52 years old when she topped the charts in 1998 with her mega hit “Believe”. The UK Official Charts have also confirmed that Bush is now fifth place within the register of older artists to secure a number one single. The list includes both genders and is headed by Captain Tom Moore, the singer scored a hit with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in 2020 and the age of 99 years and 11 months.

Senior Vice President of Rhino UK Myn Jazeel has given the following statement concerning Bush’s chart win, “It’s long overdue that Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by the truly amazing Kate Bush should finally top the UK charts. This phenomenal cultural moment came about after close collaboration between Kate and her team, Netflix and the Warner Music Sync Team, and without doubt we’ve seen that a cross-generational connection has been made, with a new audience in the UK and around the world joining Kate’s existing fanbase to discover and honour her timeless brilliance.”

Jazeel continues to thank Netflix’s popular show, “The success of Stranger Things, backed by Netflix, has been instrumental in creating this moment, so we must thank them. But our congratulations go out first and foremost to Kate. Running Up That Hill went to Number 3 in the UK when first released in 1985, so we’re delighted that it’s reached Number 1 almost 40 years later.”

The senior vice president concludes her statement by expressing joy that Bush’s discography has been introduced to the younger generation, “It’s also gratifying that Kate’s wider catalogue is now being discovered and enjoyed by a whole new audience. This whole occasion feels incredible for all involved, and that’s why we work in catalogue music, for moments like this that have such broad cultural relevance and impact.”

An array of football anthems found themselves in the Top 100 this week due to the EURO 2020 games, further escalated by the final on Sunday. But amid the anthems, Ed Sheeran’s 2021 single ‘Bad Habits’ has extended its top billing.

This week marks the second week at number one for the ‘Shape of You’ singer, ‘Bad Habits’ was teased on popular app TikTok in late June of this year where the singer debuted the single’s horror-esque look. Within the video, the artist also gave fans a glimpse into the aesthetic of the new single’s video. The single, released on 25th June 2021 through Asylum Records is the lead single off the 30-year-old singer’s upcoming fifth album. The track also marks the artist’s first solo release from a studio album in four years.

The artist took to his Instagram page to post an acoustic version of the hit single.

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The single has racked up an impressive sales count and has outsold its opening week, selling 103,000 chart sales including 10.9 million streams. The release outsold the six football anthems which entered the chart this week. Out of the newly introduced anthems, it is no surprise that ‘3 Lions’ by David Baddiel, The Lightning Seeds and Frank Skinner is the forerunner, climbing 18 spots to reach number 4.  Another popular football song that entered the charts this week, ‘Vindaloo’ by Fat Les came in at number 36, its highest position since 2010. The track was originally released in 1998 and was co-written by Alex James, bassist for Blur. Much like any other anthem, the track had a purpose, it was written and recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The charts appeared to follow a theme this week as the pub classic ‘Sweet Caroline’ re-entered the charts at number 48, originally released in 1971 by Neil Diamond, the song has been adopted in recent years as an English classic.

Sheeran’s newest single also outsold Olivia Rodrigo’s hugely popular release ‘Good 4 U’ this week, which remains at number 2. Stealing the bronze this week is ‘Heartbreak Anthem’ by Swedish DJ Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix. The collaboration is Little Mix’s first release since the single ‘Confetti’ on 30th April 2021, the newly made trio took part in this year’s record store day with a release of 2021 album ‘Confetti’ on Vinyl with a new decorated cover. Just below ‘3 Lions’ at number five is ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ by Maneskin, the Italian band famously won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Zitti e Buoni’.

Unlike the 1990s a specific football anthem has not been written for this year’s games, although we have seen plenty of old-school favourites get their second chance in the charts. Perhaps ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran is the unofficial anthem for the EURO game. However, this weekend’s game may provide a different answer, depending on the result we may see an anthem at number one next week.

Announcing the news on Instagram, Evan’s wrote: “Wellerman is a UK NUMBER 1! I still don’t believe it….Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of yous that bought the single and listened to it. This is just the start!! #WellermanForNumberOne.”

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Evans initially released his version of the sea shanty last year via the platform TikTok, and it immediately became an internet sensation. Releasing a video on Instagram earlier this year, he expressed his astonishment having gone from a postman to signing a record deal with a major label in a matter of months.

The sea shanty track, remixed with 220 Kid and Billen Ted, has been in the top three for the past seven weeks, finally reaching the number one spot this week. Speaking to Officialcharts.com, 220 Kid, who remixed ‘Wellerman’ along with Billen Ted, said: “Official Number 1 single – I can’t believe it! It’s a dream come true. No matter how much goes wrong, or how many obstacles you reach, as long as you overcome them, you will eventually get there. The support on this record has been unbelievable. It’s really been magical. Thank you so much.”

Last week the sea shanty artist performed his rendition of ‘Wellerman’ on the hit TV show Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night takeaway. Closing the show, Ant and Dec joined Evan’s on stage, dressed in nautical outfits and also accompanied by legendary Queen guitarist Brian May. 

‘Wellerman,’ a 19th Century sea shanty originating from New Zealand, and is about a whaling crew waiting for ‘sugar, tea and rum’ to arrive from Australia. Sea shanty’s traditionally accompanied rhythmical labour aboard British and European large merchant ships. Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Scotsman expressed how sea shanties were influential when he was growing up.  

Born in Airdrie, Scotland, Evans started his TikToks covering songs by well-known UK artists such as Lewis Capaldi and Ed Sheeran. Asking his followers for suggestions about which songs to cover, the sea shanty ‘what shall we do with the drunken sailor,’ was suggested. The cover version of ‘Wellerman’ took off and became a sensation, with others on the platform uploading their own renditions, including UK artist Gary Barlow. 

Announcing his debut tour last month, the ‘Wellerman’ star will be touring across the UK in late 2021 and in Europe in early 2022.  

Other songs in this week’s UK singles charts Top Five include: ‘Latest Trends’ by A1 & J1, ‘Patience’ by KSI featuring Yungblood & Polo G, ‘The Business’ by Tiesto, and ‘Friday’ by Riton/NightCrawlers/Mufasa. 

‘Wellerman is available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Music. You can also view the music video for Wellerman’ on Youtube: 

Frontman Oli Sykes thanked fans for their support in an Instagram post and owners of their record label RCA, Sony Music UK showed equal enthusiasm and congratulated the band in the comments section. ‘POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR,’ is the second Bring Me The Horizon album to reach number 1, with 2019s ‘AMO,’ also reaching the top spot. Since they first entered the charts with an album release in 2006, Bring Me The Horizon have steadily been improving their chart release with every single album, climbing from number 13 up to number 1 in the space of the last decade.

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The band’s success with this album, while certainly largely down to their long standing and loyal fan base, may also be to do with the band’s wise choice of collaborators for many of the tracks. Yungblud is featured on ‘Obey,’ and after his album ‘weird!’ shot to number 1 when it was released in December the world has been watching what he does with great enthusiasm. The album also features a collaboration with Japanese J-Pop and Metal fusion band ‘BABYMETAL,’ who have a large cult following and have appeared in the UK events like the Reading and Leeds festival.

Collaborations certainly seems to be the way forward in todays music industry, with artists as big as Dua Lipa frequently working with a variety of musicians, producers and songwriters to sharpen her sound and broaden her appeal. This is definitely an idea that Bring Me The Horizon have picked up on and they have chosen very well who to work with on this album. Yungblud helps the band appeal to a younger audience and to the slightly less aggressive Indie Rock scene whose fans may be initially put off by the more aggressive Metal sound, but be tempted to try it out by the appearance of their beloved Yungblud.

With the UK’s coronavirus crisis continuing to unravel with and end still not in sight, live music in Britain is still unfortunately out of the question. However some music fans are still hopeful that 2021 will see a return of bands to stages, with big acts like Dua Lipa and Indie Rockers Declan McKenna and Yungblud all promising tours this year. Bring Me The Horizon have hinted at some in-store performances in Kingston but have not set a firm date yet.

Despite only reaching number 43 on the UK singles charts, ‘Heat Waves,’ has been a big success for Glass Animals amongst their niche and loyal following in the UK and in their more mainstream audience worldwide. As well as their hottest 100 success the song’s international popularity is reflected in their streaming figures online, with the song’s official video clocking 8.6 million views on Youtube and the lyric video not far behind on 6.5 million. As well as this, the other big news the band announced yesterday was the passing of the 100 million streams milestone for the song on Spotify.

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The announcement that ‘Heat Waves,’ had surpassed 100 million streams, in fact reaching a total of 100,215,480 at the time of announcement, was accompanied by another emotive caption from the band. Frontman Dave Bayley wrote to express his disbelief at how the song had been transported from rough demo’s and late night vocal recordings to an international success. This achievement certainly goes some way to endorsing the value of online streaming platforms in giving a voice to more alternative bands and artists which don’t often get deserved recognition through the conventional charts system.

While the streaming model certainly has its flaws, with low royalty payments per stream being the main obstacle for smaller niche or emerging artists, the loosening of the hold on the industry’s creatives from the conventional gatekeepers has definitely gone some way to democratising the industry. For Glass Animals, the system has worked in their favour, their compatibility with an internet-based streaming first audience demographic has meant that they have been able to total up enough streams to equate to a healthy year’s income on one track alone. However with label’s continuing to make deductions from royalties even for streaming rights, there is still some way to go is musicians are to truly start receiving the money they deserve for all their hard work.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the UK, there is still some hope for the future of live music in the UK. Although Glastonbury may have been cancelled this year, Glass Animals for one are pressing ahead with live dates scheduled for the summer of 2021. Fans of the band and of any British artists can only hope and pray that the situation is brought under control in time. UK dates are as follows:

16/05/2021 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
19/05 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester
21/05 – O2 Academy – Leeds
23/05 – Rock City – Nottingham
25/05 – O2 Academy – Bristol
26/05 – Alexandra Palace – London

The official update by the OCC confirmed 85% of the sales in the first week came from physical copies, half of which bought at independent stores, and showed frontman Josh Franscechi thank both their fans and haters, and say: “A truly incredible moment for our band. Our love for our fan base, and their support, is endless. They have been the light at the end of a tunnel of a pretty rough time. The support of our loved ones, family, partners, friends. Everyone who worked on this record. Dan Austin and the rest of our studio family who worked relentlessly to make this with us. Our second number one almost seven years later is just madness. Sixers for life.”

Congratulations to @youmeatsix on their second Number 1 album SUCKAPUNCH! https://t.co/WaOiviD8xd pic.twitter.com/Bc6pB5e1Fu

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) January 22, 2021

In its strong debut week SUCKAPUNCH beat Barry Gibb’s third solo release Greenfields for the top spot, with Eminem’s acclaimed eleventh album Music To Be Murdered By left at third place with 35 consecutive weeks in the charts. At number 4 this week is Sleaford Mods’ Space Ribs that also premiered last week and is their first ever top 5 record, followed by The Good Times And The Bad Ones by Why Don’t We. The rest of the Top 10 album include Pop Smoke’s Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon, Harry Styles’ Fine Line, Shame’s Drunk Tank Pink, Taylor Swift’s Evermore and Little Mix’s Confetti.

SUCKAPUNCH came out last Friday via Underdog Records and AWAL, and includes a total of 11 tracks, composed and performed entirely by the band and produced by Dan Austin (Twin Atlantic, Pulled Apart By Horses, Maximo Park). The record features the previously released ‘What’s It Like‘ from 2019, their three 2020 singles ‘MAKEMEFEELALIVE‘, ‘Beautiful Way‘, ‘SUCKAPUNCH‘ all accompanied by official videos, as well as their latest New Year’s Day track ‘Adrenaline‘.

 

 

 

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Публикация, споделена от You Me At Six (@youmeatsixofficial)

Straight upon its release, SUCKAPUNCH received predominantly positive reviews from all rock outlets, and huge praise from their loyal fan base. Clash points out that the passion and experimentation behind the record “could be what allows them to continue to brave the storm of the music industry for another fifteen years, should they still want to“. Giving it a solid 4/5, Kerrang! states that it “jabs with style, and demonstrates that, far from running out of ideas, this band remain intent on staying at the cutting edge of modern British rock“. Similarly, NME states that “it’s rare for a rock record to feel this exciting, especially coming from a band seven albums deep and, y’know, from Surrey, but every track ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ feels inspired in some way […] and you’d be hard-pressed not to keep the faith too“.

In addition to their admirable physical sales performance, the record also passed 10 million streams on Spotify, with similar achievement across all other major digital platforms. If government guidelines allow live events to go through later in the year, You Me At Six will embark on a busy Summer tour across the UK and Europe, with more information and tickets available at their website.

SUCKAPUNCH: Our new album has been streamed 10,000,000 on @Spotify thank you for the love. https://t.co/BNkVodNIvr

— You Me At Six (@youmeatsix) January 22, 2021

We’re proud to say that ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! is officially number 1 in the UK @officialcharts this week for the very first time!

It’s been an incredible 36 years since the track was first released in 1984 and we want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you pic.twitter.com/1vvhRxZcO4

— George Michael Official (@GeorgeMOfficial) January 1, 2021

In a moving statement on Twitter, surviving Wham! member Andrew Ridgeley reflected on the belated success by paying tribute to his late bandmate George Michael. He said “I am delighted, somewhat amazed & profoundly pleased that WHAM!’s iconic Christmas classic Last Christmas has finally achieved the accolade of becoming a No 1. It’s a fitting tribute to George’s songwriting genius and one of which he would’ve been immensely proud & utterly thrilled.”

Last Christmas has been a defining staple of Christmas playlists ever since it hit the shelves in 1984, when it was released as a double-A side with Everything She Wants. Younger listeners will doubtless be shocked that a track so deeply entrenched in modern Christmas tradition – from its instantly-recognisable synth-laden melody to the seminal, alpine-set will-they-won’t-they music video – was never a number one in the first place.

In fact, it was pipped to the post in 1984 by another track featuring George Michael: Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? Although that track is more commonly associated with its charitable impact than Wham!’s, Michael and Ridgeley also donated the royalties from Last Christmas to relief efforts for the Ethiopian famine. The duo had never lacked a social conscience: just a few months before the release of their Christmas standard, Wham! had played a benefit gig in support of striking miners and their families at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Commenting on the reasons for the enduring appeal of Last Christmas - a song which has been covered by a plethora of artists from Manic Street Preachers to Ariana Grande, Cascada and the cast of Glee – Josh Baines of Vice opines: “The depth of feeling that propels ‘Last Christmas’ lies at the heart of Christmas itself. Even when we’re together around the table, with crackers in our hands and approximations of smiles on our faces, compliments passing around about the turkey and the wine and the new jumpers, jokes told and groaned at and chucked on the floor, the sensation that something is missing is always hanging above us…”

In topping the chart today, Last Christmas has set a new record for the longest time taken for a single to reach number one. Wham!’s 36 year wait surpasses the 33 years and 4 month-long interval between the 1971 release of Yorkshire crooner Tony Christie’s classic singalong anthem (Is This The Way To) Amarillo and its surge to the top of the charts in March 2005 with the support of Peter Kay. The Comic Relief version of the track went on to spend seven weeks at number one, before eventually being knocked off top spot by Akon’s Lonely.

Last Christmas long-awaited success today came at the expense of a number of other festive challengers, including Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You (#2); Jess’ Glynne’s This Christmas (#3) and, ironically, Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? (#7). Wham!’s track has also shaken off the title of the best-selling single not to reach number one in the UK. That accolade has now passed on to Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera’s Moves Like Jagger, which peaked in second spot back in 2011.