The Christmas Number One for 2023 in the UK has been announced – and it's a festive first for Wham!
The Official Charts Company has revealed the biggest-selling song of the festive week – with 'Last Christmas' by Wham! beating Eurovision's Sam Ryder to first place.
'Last Christmas' was streamed an impressive 13.3 million times over the seven days making it the most-streamed Christmas Number One ever during Christmas week, as well as the third biggest song of all time in the UK.
Speaking about the song's 39-year journey to Number One, Wham!'s Andrew Ridgeley paid tribute to his late bandmate George Michael, saying it was "mission accomplished".
Related: Wham's Andrew Ridgeley: Where is he now?
"Last Christmas has finally ascended to the much-cherished and sought-after Official Christmas Number 1, which was always the main goal," Ridgeley told Official Charts.
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"George would be beside himself [that] after all of these years, [we've] finally obtained Christmas Number 1. Yog [George] said that he wrote Last Christmas with the intention of writing a Christmas Number 1. It's mission accomplished!"
He added: "Christmas Number 1 has been a long-held ambition for Yog and I, and for the fans, too... Last Christmas was conceived as a Christmas Number 1. Lofty ambitions, but Yog set lofty ambitions for himself as a songwriter. Our fans will have a real sense of achievement and pride in the fact it’s become Christmas Number 1."
Written and produced by George Michael, 'Last Christmas' was originally released back in December 1984 with the goal of securing the top spot that same year.
Related: Ryan Reynolds recreates Wham!'s Last Christmas cover with Rob McElhenney
However, the track was held off of the top spot by BandAid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.
Alongside securing the top spot, 'Last Christmas' has also made history by setting the record for the longest ever journey a song has taken to reach Christmas Number One.
Meanwhile, Sam Ryder's 'You're Christmas To Me' secured the number 2 spot, while Mariah Carey's classic 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' has the number 2 spot.
Noah Kahan's 'Stick Season' and Ed Sheeran & Elton John's 'Merry Christmas' round out the top five.
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Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
