Classic Christmas songs by Wham! and Mariah Carey have entered the UK charts earlier than ever this year.
Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ entered the chart at number 37 and and 40 in the UK Top 40 this weekend, respectively.
Last year, it wasn’t until the third week of November that a Christmas song, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’, appeared on the charts.
Both songs will likely now remain in the charts in the lead up to Christmas over the coming weeks. Currently there are no other Christmas songs in the Top 100.
Back in 2020, Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ became a UK Number One for the first time ever, 26 years after it was first released.
“Happy Christmas UK!! We finally made it!!!,” the singer said at the time. “We are keeping the Christmas spirit alive together despite how dismal the year’s been. Love you always! Joy to the world!”
Shortly after, Wham!‘s ‘Last Christmas’ reached Number One in the UK for the very first time, 36 years after it was first released.
Taking to Twitter to respond to the news, Andrew Ridgeley wrote: “I am delighted, somewhat amazed & profoundly pleased that WHAM!’s iconic Christmas classic Last Christmas has finally achieved the accolade of becoming a No 1.
“It’s a fitting tribute 2 George’s songwriting genius and 1 of which he would’ve been immensely proud & utterly thrilled.”
‘Last Christmas’ was originally a Number Two hit when it came out in 1984. It reappeared in the chart every year since 2008, and finally reached Number One in January 2021.
Despite both songs’ revival in the charts in recent years, neither has actually held the Number One Christmas spot. LadBaby last year broke a UK chart record previously held by The Beatles as they scored their fifth Christmas Number One with their track ‘Food Aid’.
The song featured money-saving expert Martin Lewis and was a reinterpretation of Band Aid’s own 1984 Christmas Number One ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’. Profits were split between the Band Aid Trust and food bank charity The Trussell Trust.
Earlier this month, Carey was sued again for copyright infringement over ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.