Wham! Bag Christmas Number One Spot With 'Last Christmas'

For the first time since its release almost four decades ago, Wham!’s festive hit, 'Last Christmas' has bagged a Christmas No 1.

The song which was written and produced by the late musician George Michael in 1984, intended on bagging the top spot following its release. However, Band Aid's 'Do They Know Its Christmas Time' pipped them to the post that year, before going on to become the second best-selling single of all time.

Having been trying to secure the number one spot for the song for 39 years, 'Last Christmas' has also made history, having taken the longest ever journey to reach the UK Christmas number one.

According to the Official Charts Company data, 'Last Christmas' has been streamed a remarkable 13.3 million times over the past week, making it the most streamed Christmas Number one during the festive week.

With a total of 5.34 million chart units, and 1.93 million sales, the song is also the third biggest selling track in the UK ever. It has also been streamed almost 413 million times in its lifetime.

"much cherished and sought after"

Reacting to the news of the song reaching number one, Wham! bandmember Andrew Ridgeley had this to say.

“‘Last Christmas’ has finally ascended to the much-cherished and sought-after Official Christmas Number One, which was always the main goal", stated Ridgeley. 

“George would be beside himself [that] after all of these years, [we’ve] finally obtained Christmas Number One. Yog [George] said that he wrote Last Christmas with the intention of writing a Christmas Number One. It’s mission accomplished". 

George Michael sadly passed away on 25 December 2016.