What to Know About Whamageddon: The Holiday Game Thousands Play by Avoiding Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’

This year, to save themselves from tears, thousands of people are avoiding listening to Wham!’s holiday classic “Last Christmas.” But it’s not because they hate Christmas music: they’re participating in a viral holiday game.

Whamageddon is an annual tradition that a group of friends from Denmark started 18 years ago, he reports The New York Timeswhich has continued the trend worldwide every year since then.

The rules, laid out on the official Whamageddon website, are simple (but not so easy to follow, given the popularity of holiday music). As soon as December 1st arrives, everyone can play by avoiding listening to Wham!’s “Last Christmas” until December 24th. Once you hear the 1986 hit — whether it happens to be on a holiday party playlist or pops up while you’re out gift shopping — you’re out. At that point, players are encouraged to take a photo or video of the moment and share it with the #Whamageddon hashtag on social media.

Wham!’s “Last Christmas” single artwork. Single cover image courtesy of Epic Wham! Andrew Ridgeley recalls first hearing ‘Last Christmas’: ‘Absolutely Knockout’ (Exclusive)

If you can last until the night of Christmas Eve, you have won and reached the “Whamhalla”. Then you are more than welcome to celebrate the ringing Christmas day with the sweet sounds of George Michael.

For those who can’t get enough of holiday music, good news: You can listen to other versions of “Last Christmas,” covered by Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and more, all you want.

Although Whamageddon began as a joke among a group of friends who would say the song “hit them” as soon as the holiday season rolled around, it has grown into something that involves thousands of people. Their official Facebook page has over 19,000 followers and almost 800 people respond to the Reddit thread. As for the hashtag, there are more than 14,000 posts with it on Instagram and a whopping 12 million views on TikTok.

According to the BBC , a DJ at Northampton Town Football Club’s stadium in the UK even got a bit of viral backlash (in good fun) on social media for playing the song at a game earlier this month.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley from Wham!

Courtesy of Netflix

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“It’s just a funny little thing that a couple of idiots from Denmark made to have fun during Christmas,” said co-founder Thomas Mertz The New York Times.

He explained to the outlet that they see it as a way to provide some holiday cheer. “It’s just not a good time of year for a lot of people,” Mertz added. “If we can add some fun to it, I think it’s worth it.”

Mertz, 42, also cleared up the common misconception that Whamageddon is because they “kind of hate Christmas music, or Wham!, or pop” — even adding that he likes pop himself.

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If you’re thinking about joining in the festivities, just know that ’80s favorites are on the rise. It tends to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 annually, and has already returned to the Top 40.

Wham! instrumentalist Andrew Ridgeley recently told PEOPLE about the Christmas song’s lasting legacy when his bandmate was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“The first time I heard it, it was absolutely mind-blowing,” said the instrumentalist, 60. “It sounded like a Christmas classic for all the world.”

He continued: “It’s a Christmas distillation if you ask me. That’s the essence of Christmas.”

“And so the persistent nature of it, the perennial nature of it is not really a surprise,” Ridgeley said. “But it’s a wonderful privilege to be given Wham!, to have one of the all-time Christmas classics – which I think it’s fair to say is likely now.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education