It’s a bittersweet time of year as Wham!’s “Last Christmas” tops the UK charts for the second year in a row.
On Friday, December 20, the Official Charts Company announced that the 1984 song, released by the duo of Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael, has become the first song in chart history ever to score two consecutive Christmas No.1s.
This achievement makes the beloved track, written and produced by Michael, this week’s most streamed and physically purchased song.
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It matches the edition Last Christmas 40th Anniversary EP earlier this month, and comes days before the anniversary of Michael’s death, which happened unexpectedly on Christmas Day 2016. Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, was 53 at the time of his death. It was later determined that Michael died of natural causes.
Speaking to the Official Charts about the achievement, Ridgeley said: “37 years to No.1, 39 years to Christmas No.1 and then like London buses they all come at once!”
Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley recalls first hearing ‘Last Christmas’: ‘Absolutely a knockout’ (Exclusive)
Wham! The artwork ‘Last Christmas’.
Columbia Records
He said the milestone made him “particularly happy for George” as “he would have been absolutely delighted”.
“His amazing Christmas composition has become such a classic, almost as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, turkey and pigs in blankets,” Ridgeley said. “It’s a testament to a really wonderful Christmas song that in many people’s minds evokes and represents the kind of Christmas we all want it to be.”
“I would like to thank everyone who listened, downloaded, bought, streamed Last Christmas and was part of history,” he continued.
Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! says the recreation of ‘Last Christmas’ scenes for the documentary feels ‘incomplete’ without George Michael
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Wham! Members Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael. Mick Hutson/Redferns
The official charts say that the milestone Wham! part of “a rare club of official charts, as one of only a handful of acts to reach the official Christmas No. 1 more than once.”
“Their peers now include; Queen (2), Cliff Richard (2), Spice Girls (3), The Beatles (4) and current record holders, LadBaby (5),” the organization said in a statement.
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Speaking about why he believes the song continues to be successful years after its release, Ridgeley said: “Artists and songwriters of that caliber, of which George was one, transcend eras and decades and endure because of their quality. I think that’s why ‘Last Christmas’ endured.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education