List of UK singles chart Christmas number ones facts for kids
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In the United Kingdom, a Christmas number one is a song that reaches the top spot on the UK Singles Chart during the week when Christmas Day happens. These songs are often fun, silly tunes, songs released to raise money for charity, or classic Christmas songs. People in the UK buy more music around Christmas, making this chart position extra special.
Being the Christmas number one is seen as a very important achievement. Many times, these songs have also been the biggest-selling song of the entire year. In recent times, many Christmas number ones have come from winners of TV talent shows or from charity projects. The most recent Christmas number one is "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Contents
How the Christmas Number One Began
The official UK Singles Chart started in 1952. It was first published in a music magazine called New Musical Express. The chart positions are decided by how many copies of a song are sold each week. Until 2015, sales were counted from Sunday to Saturday. Now, they are counted from Friday to Thursday. Before 1987, the chart results were announced on a Tuesday because they had to be calculated by hand!
The idea of a big race for the Christmas number one really started in 1973. That year, two glam rock bands, Slade and Wizzard, purposely released Christmas-themed songs. They both wanted to be number one for Christmas. Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" won, beating Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". Before 1994, the Christmas number one song wasn't even announced on Christmas Day itself.
The Rise of Reality TV and Charity Songs
From 2002 to 2014, TV talent shows often decided the Christmas number one. Winners of these shows would often go straight to the top of the charts just before Christmas. This trend started when contestants from Popstars: The Rivals had the top three songs on the Christmas chart.
Between 2005 and 2014, winners of The X Factor got the number one spot seven times. In 2007, the X Factor song was so likely to win that betting companies started taking bets on which song would be the "Christmas Number Two" instead!
However, in 2009, a Facebook campaign encouraged people to buy Rage Against the Machine's 1992 song "Killing in the Name". This campaign was against the dominance of X Factor winners. "Killing in the Name" outsold the X Factor winner Joe McElderry. This made Rage Against the Machine the first group to get a Christmas number one with a song that was only available to download. It also set a record for the most downloads in a single week in UK chart history. Other similar campaigns in 2010, for bands like Biffy Clyro, were not successful.
In 2011, the Military Wives choir, led by Gareth Malone from the TV show The Choir, outsold X Factor winners Little Mix. In 2012, a group of famous musicians called The Justice Collective released a cover of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". This song supported charities linked to the Hillsborough disaster. It reached number one, beating The X Factor winner James Arthur.
Since 2018, Amazon Music has released special Christmas songs by artists like Justin Bieber and Ellie Goulding. None of these have reached the Christmas number one spot yet. More recently, a YouTuber named LadBaby became very successful with funny songs released for charity. LadBaby got the Christmas number one every year from 2018 to 2022, raising money for the Trussell Trust. They decided not to release a Christmas song in 2023, ending their amazing streak.
Amazing Christmas Chart Records
LadBaby holds the record for the most Christmas number ones, with five! They broke the Beatles' previous record in 2022.
The Beatles had a very impressive record themselves. In both 1963 and 1967, they had both the Christmas number one and the number two song at the same time! This was the first time any artist had done that.
Other artists have also had multiple Christmas number ones:
- George Michael achieved this twice. He was part of Band Aid and also had a hit with Wham! in 1984.
- Ed Sheeran did it in 2017 with duets with Beyoncé and Eminem. He did it again in 2021 with LadBaby and Elton John.
- Paul McCartney has been at number one eight times with different groups. This includes four times with The Beatles, once with Wings, and also with Band Aid, Band Aid 20, and The Justice Collective.
- Cliff Richard has had four Christmas number ones. Two were as a solo artist, one with The Shadows, and one as part of Band Aid II.
- The Spice Girls had three Christmas number ones in a row from 1996 to 1998. Melanie C from the Spice Girls got a fourth Christmas number one as part of The Justice Collective in 2012. This also gave Robbie Williams his third.
- In 2022, LadBaby made history by getting five Christmas number ones in a row!
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen is the only song to reach number one at Christmas twice. It topped the charts in 1975 and again in 1991. "Mary's Boy Child" is the only song to be Christmas number one for two different artists: Harry Belafonte in 1957 and Boney M. in 1978. However, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" has been Christmas number one for three different versions of Band Aid.
The original version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is the second best-selling song in UK history. Only "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John has sold more. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the third best-selling.
List of Christmas Number Ones
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| Year | Primary Artist | Song | Weeks at No. 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Al Martino | "Here in My Heart" | 9 |
| 1953 | Frankie Laine | "Answer Me" | 8 |
| 1954 | Winifred Atwell | "Let's Have Another Party" | 5 |
| 1955 | Dickie Valentine | "Christmas Alphabet" | 3 |
| 1956 | Johnnie Ray | "Just Walkin' in the Rain" | 7 |
| 1957 | Harry Belafonte | "Mary's Boy Child" | 7 |
| 1958 | Conway Twitty | "It's Only Make Believe" | 5 |
| 1959 | Emile Ford and the Checkmates | "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" | 6 |
| 1960 | Cliff Richard and the Shadows | "I Love You" | 2 |
| 1961 | Danny Williams | "Moon River" | 2 |
| 1962 | Elvis Presley | "Return to Sender" | 3 |
| 1963 | The Beatles | "I Want to Hold Your Hand" | 5 |
| 1964 | "I Feel Fine" | 5 | |
| 1965 | "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" | 5 | |
| 1966 | Tom Jones | "Green, Green Grass of Home" | 7 |
| 1967 | The Beatles | "Hello, Goodbye" | 7 |
| 1968 | The Scaffold | "Lily the Pink" | 4 |
| 1969 | Rolf Harris | "Two Little Boys" | 6 |
| 1970 | Dave Edmunds | "I Hear You Knocking" | 6 |
| 1971 | Benny Hill | "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" | 4 |
| 1972 | Jimmy Osmond | "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" | 5 |
| 1973 | Slade | "Merry Xmas Everybody" | 5 |
| 1974 | Mud | "Lonely This Christmas" | 4 |
| 1975 | Queen | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | 9 |
| 1976 | Johnny Mathis | "When a Child Is Born (Soleado)" | 3 |
| 1977 | Wings | "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" | 9 |
| 1978 | Boney M. | "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" | 4 |
| 1979 | Pink Floyd | "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" | 5 |
| 1980 | St Winifred's School Choir | "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" | 2 |
| 1981 | The Human League | "Don't You Want Me" | 5 |
| 1982 | Renée and Renato | "Save Your Love" | 4 |
| 1983 | The Flying Pickets | "Only You" | 5 |
| 1984 | Band Aid | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" | 5 |
| 1985 | Shakin' Stevens | "Merry Christmas Everyone" | 2 |
| 1986 | Jackie Wilson | "Reet Petite" | 4 |
| 1987 | Pet Shop Boys | "Always on My Mind" | 4 |
| 1988 | Cliff Richard | "Mistletoe and Wine" | 4 |
| 1989 | Band Aid II | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" | 3 |
| 1990 | Cliff Richard | "Saviour's Day" | 1 |
| 1991 | Queen | "Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives" | 5 |
| 1992 | Whitney Houston | "I Will Always Love You" | 10 |
| 1993 | Mr Blobby | "Mr Blobby" | 3 |
| 1994 | East 17 | "Stay Another Day" | 5 |
| 1995 | Michael Jackson | "Earth Song" | 6 |
| 1996 | Spice Girls | "2 Become 1" | 3 |
| 1997 | "Too Much" | 2 | |
| 1998 | "Goodbye" | 1 | |
| 1999 | Westlife | "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" | 4 |
| 2000 | Bob the Builder | "Can We Fix It?" | 3 |
| 2001 | Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman | "Somethin' Stupid" | 3 |
| 2002 | Girls Aloud | "Sound of the Underground" | 4 |
| 2003 | Michael Andrews and Gary Jules | "Mad World" | 3 |
| 2004 | Band Aid 20 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" | 4 |
| 2005 | Shayne Ward | "That's My Goal" | 4 |
| 2006 | Leona Lewis | "A Moment Like This" | 4 |
| 2007 | Leon Jackson | "When You Believe" | 3 |
| 2008 | Alexandra Burke | "Hallelujah" | 3 |
| 2009 | Rage Against the Machine | "Killing in the Name" | 1 |
| 2010 | Matt Cardle | "When We Collide" | 3 |
| 2011 | Military Wives with Gareth Malone | "Wherever You Are" | 1 |
| 2012 | The Justice Collective | "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" | 1 |
| 2013 | Sam Bailey | "Skyscraper" | 1 |
| 2014 | Ben Haenow | "Something I Need" | 1 |
| 2015 | Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir | "A Bridge over You" | 1 |
| 2016 | Clean Bandit | "Rockabye" ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie | 9 |
| 2017 | Ed Sheeran | "Perfect" | 6 |
| 2018 | LadBaby | "We Built This City" | 1 |
| 2019 | "I Love Sausage Rolls" | 1 | |
| 2020 | "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" | 1 | |
| 2021 | "Sausage Rolls for Everyone" ft. Ed Sheeran and Elton John | 1 | |
| 2022 | "Food Aid" | 1 | |
| 2023 | Wham! | "Last Christmas" | 6 |
See Also
