List of UK singles chart Christmas number ones explained

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.[1]

The Christmas number one is considered especially prestigious, more so than any other time of year.[2] [3] 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!.[4]

History

The UK Singles Chart began in 1952 – appearing in the New Musical Express.[5] The positions of all songs are based on weekly sales (from Sunday to Saturday until 2015, then from Friday to Thursday).[6] [7] Before 1987, they were released on a Tuesday due to the need for manual calculation.[8] 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".[2] [9] The Christmas number-one single was not revealed on Christmas Day itself until 1994.[10]

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 contestants released the top three singles on the Christmas chart.[11] 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.[12] Rage Against the Machine's 1992 single "Killing in the Name" outsold Joe McElderry in 2009 following a successful Facebook campaign against this trend.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] [16] 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 Factors James Arthur.[17] Following the UK Charts' move to Fridays,[18] the Christmas number one is revealed on Christmas Day whenever it falls on a Friday, such as in 2015 and 2020;[19] [20] the former year's chart was the first in a decade to not feature the X Factor winner's single in the top two.[21] [22] 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.[23] [24] [25] [26] 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,[27] before voluntarily ending their streak by not releasing a Christmas single in 2023.[28]

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.[29]

"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.[30] 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.[31] [32]

List

YearPrimary ArtistSong[33] Weeks at
No. 1[34] [35]
1952"Here in My Heart"9
1953"Answer Me"8
1954"Let's Have Another Party"5
1955"Christmas Alphabet"3
1956"Just Walkin' in the Rain"7
1957"Mary's Boy Child"7
1958"It's Only Make Believe"5
1959 and the Checkmates"What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?"6
1960 and the Shadows"I Love You"2
1961"Moon River"2
1962"Return to Sender"3
1963"I Want to Hold Your Hand"5
1964"I Feel Fine"5
1965"Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out"[36] 5
1966"Green, Green Grass of Home"7
1967"Hello, Goodbye"7
1968"Lily the Pink"4
1969"Two Little Boys"6
1970"I Hear You Knocking"6
1971"Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)"4
1972"Long Haired Lover from Liverpool"5
1973Slade"Merry Xmas Everybody"5
1974Mud"Lonely This Christmas"4
1975Queen"Bohemian Rhapsody"9
1976"When a Child Is Born (Soleado)"3
1977Wings"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"9
1978Boney M."Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord"4
1979Pink Floyd"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"5
1980St Winifred's School Choir"There's No One Quite Like Grandma"2
1981"Don't You Want Me"5
1982Renée and Renato"Save Your Love"4
1983"Only You"5
1984Band Aid"Do They Know It's Christmas?"5
1985"Merry Christmas Everyone"2
1986"Reet Petite"4
1987Pet Shop Boys"Always on My Mind"4
1988"Mistletoe and Wine"4
1989Band Aid II"Do They Know It's Christmas?"3
1990"Saviour's Day"1
1991Queen"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives"5
1992"I Will Always Love You"10
1993Mr Blobby"Mr Blobby"3
1994East 17"Stay Another Day"5
1995"Earth Song"6
1996Spice Girls"2 Become 1"3
1997"Too Much"2
1998"Goodbye"1
1999Westlife"I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun"4
2000Bob the Builder"Can We Fix It?"3
2001 and Nicole Kidman"Somethin' Stupid"3
2002Girls Aloud"Sound of the Underground"4
2003 and Gary Jules"Mad World"3
2004Band Aid 20"Do They Know It's Christmas?"4
2005"That's My Goal"4
2006"A Moment Like This"4
2007"When You Believe"3
2008"Hallelujah"3
2009Rage Against the Machine"Killing in the Name"1
2010"When We Collide"3
2011Military Wives with Gareth Malone"Wherever You Are"1
2012"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"1
2013"Skyscraper"1
2014"Something I Need"1
2015Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir[37] "A Bridge over You"1
2016Clean Bandit"Rockabye" ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie9
2017"Perfect"6
2018LadBaby"We Built This City"1
2019"I Love Sausage Rolls" 1
20201
2021"Sausage Rolls for Everyone" ft. Ed Sheeran and Elton John[38] 1
2022"Food Aid" [39] 1
2023Wham!"Last Christmas" 6

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Have a chart-topping Christmas. 23 December 2001. 7 March 2011. BBC News. Jayne. Douglas. 22 October 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20091022222040/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1690079.stm. live.
  2. Web site: Why do we still love Christmas number ones?. Meighan. Nicola. 2004. 17 April 2017. BBC. 12 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170512194755/http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z2hnsbk. live.
  3. Web site: Sound of silence vies to be Christmas number one. 16 October 2010. 7 March 2012. The Daily Telegraph. 19 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101019034320/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/8067341/Sound-of-silence-vies-to-be-Christmas-number-one.html. live.
  4. Web site: Wham!’s Last Christmas finally reaches Christmas No 1, 39 years after release. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben. The Guardian. 22 December 2023. 22 December 2023. 22 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231222175008/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/22/wham-last-christmas-finally-gets-no-1-39-years-after-release. live.
  5. News: The story of the single . . 21 April 2008 . 23 March 2001 . 5 June 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070605092851/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/1234212.stm . live .
  6. Web site: FAQs. Official Charts Company. https://web.archive.org/web/20111008223942/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/faqs/. 8 October 2011. dead. 12 August 2010.
  7. Web site: Who We Are - How the Official Charts are compiled. Official Charts Company. en. 20 December 2017. 18 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180118050342/http://www.officialcharts.com/getting-into-the-charts/how-the-charts-are-compiled/. live.
  8. Book: Roberts, David . . . 2005 . 978-1-904994-00-8 . 18th . 14 . en.
  9. Web site: Will Christmas Number One hopes 'The W Factor' (The Wombles) or 'MW Factor' (The Military Wives) beat The X Factor? . Paddy . Shennan . . 13 December 2011 . 23 August 2012 . 23 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231223124021/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/christmas-number-one-hopes-w-3357506 . live .
  10. Web site: Official UK Top 40 with Bruno Brookes. BBC Genome Project. 25 December 1994. 11 December 2018. 15 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215180017/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/8705c51b1ad4497ea63781a15d45b7bb. live.
  11. News: Girls Aloud top festive chart . . 23 December 2009 . 30 November 2011 . 15 July 2012 . https://archive.today/20120715164934/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2599721.stm . live .
  12. News: X Factor faces online Christmas chart challenge . Rosie . Swash . . 16 November 2007 . London . 0261-3077 . 60623878 . 30 November 2011 . 19 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131219071122/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/16/1 . live .
  13. News: Rage Against the Machine beat X Factor winner in charts . 20 December 2009 . 20 December 2009 . . 21 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091221052030/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8423340.stm . live .
  14. Web site: X Factor's Matt Cardle beats Biffy Clyro, Surfin' Bird and John Cage to UK Christmas Number One . . 19 December 2010 . 19 December 2010 . 22 December 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101222003004/http://www.nme.com/news/nme/54322 . live .
  15. News: Military Wives Choir capture Christmas number one . . 25 December 2011 . 25 December 2011 . 25 December 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111225175317/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16285101 . live .
  16. Military Wives & Italian Donkey in Race for U.K.'s No. 1 Christmas Single . Paul . Sexton . . 23 December 2011 . 25 December 2011 . 29 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130529032327/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/464672/military-wives-italian-donkey-in-race-for-uks-no-1-christmas-single . live .
  17. News: Hillsborough single is Christmas number one . . 24 December 2012 . 24 December 2012 . 5 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181005191419/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20827695 . live .
  18. Web site: The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1 to move to Fridays from July - Greg James to present the weekly show from 4-6pm. BBC. 17 April 2017. 24 March 2015. 6 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170606212045/http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/official-chart-show-greg-james. live.
  19. Web site: The Christmas No 1!, The Official Chart with Greg James - BBC Radio 1. BBC. 22 December 2015. 27 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151227212408/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s6l5d. live.
  20. Web site: NHS Choir in the lead in race for Christmas number one. The Daily Telegraph. 23 December 2015. Furness. Hannah. 21 December 2015. 22 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222223930/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12060744/NHS-Choir-in-the-lead-in-race-for-Christmas-number-one.html. live.
  21. Web site: Christmas number one: Why the X Factor is an outsider. Blake. Jimmy. 22 December 2015. Newsbeat. 3 April 2016. 11 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160111171444/http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35162983/christmas-number-one-why-the-x-factor-is-an-outsider. live.
  22. Web site: The demise of the X Factor Christmas Number 1. 21 December 2015. The Independent. en-GB. 3 April 2016. 18 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160418213811/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-demise-of-the-x-factor-christmas-number-1-a6781661.html. live.
  23. Web site: 3 November 2021. George Ezra, Camila Cabello and Alessia Cara announced for Amazon Exclusive Christmas songs line-up. live. 7 November 2021. Official Charts Company. en. 5 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211105024655/https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/george-ezra-camila-cabello-and-alessia-cara-announced-for-amazon-exclusive-christmas-songs-line-up__34365/.
  24. Web site: New Christmas songs by Jess Glynne and Justin Bieber set to enter Top 40. 8 December 2020. Official Charts Company. en. 7 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201207004624/https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/new-christmas-songs-by-jess-glynne-and-justin-bieber-are-set-to-enter-this-weeks-official-singles-chart-top-40__31679/. live.
  25. Web site: Jess Glynne enters Christmas Number 1 race with festive cover. 8 December 2020. Official Charts Company. en. 29 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201129041602/https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/jess-glynne-enters-the-race-for-the-uks-official-christmas-number-1-with-amazon-music-exclusive-single-this-christmas__31606/. live.
  26. News: Savage. Mark. 27 December 2019. Ellie Goulding gets the final number one of the 2010s. en-GB. BBC News. 8 November 2021. 8 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211108201037/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50927575. live.
  27. News: Christmas number one: Why is the festive chart-topper such a big deal? - CBBC Newsround. . 13 December 2018 . 27 November 2020. 5 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201205193330/https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46546117. live.
  28. Web site: 2023-12-01 . Odds slashed on 2023 Christmas Number One race Virgin Radio UK . 2023-12-02 . . en . 2 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231202235323/https://virginradio.co.uk/music/128100/christmas-number-one-charts-shane-macgowan . live .
  29. Web site: 23 December 2022 . LadBaby make history with fifth consecutive Christmas No 1 . 23 December 2022 . . en . 23 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221223174104/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64074797 . live .
  30. News: All the Christmas number ones . . 21 April 2008 . 16 December 2002 . 12 May 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110512061441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/music/newsid_2580000/2580729.stm . live .
  31. Web site: Do They Know It's Christmas?. BBC Radio 2

    Sold on Song

    . 22 December 2015. BBC. 20 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151220084731/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/dotheyknowitsxmas.shtml. live.
  32. Web site: The UK's top 50 million-selling singles. NME. 22 December 2015. 5 November 2012. 23 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151223064948/http://www.nme.com/photos/the-uks-top-50-million-selling-singles/290240#/photo/49. live.
  33. Web site: Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever!. 12 October 2015. Myers. Justin. Official Charts Company. 13 December 2013. 30 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151130002939/http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/every-official-christmas-number-1-ever-__3618/. live.
  34. Web site: Christmas Number Ones – Singles . . 19 April 2008 . 12 April 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080412013155/http://www.everyhit.com/christmasnumber1.html . live .
  35. News: Thirty years of Christmas No 1s . . 19 April 2008 . London . 19 May 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110519171249/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/christmas2002/story/0,,864869,00.html . live .
  36. Released as a double A-side.
  37. Web site: NHS Choir beat Bieber to UK Christmas number one. BBC News. 25 December 2015. 25 December 2015. 25 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151225131750/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35177842. live.
  38. News: Savage . Mark . 24 December 2021 . LadBaby score historic fourth Christmas number one . en-GB . . 24 December 2021 . 23 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231223124048/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59762286 . live .
  39. News: Savage . Mark . 2022-12-23 . LadBaby: Food Aid is the UK's Christmas number one . en-GB . . 2022-12-23 . 23 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221223185155/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64074797 . live .

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