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List of UK singles chart Christmas number ones

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In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that are top of the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. Novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme have regularly been at the top of Christmas charts. Traditionally the volume of record sales in the UK peaks at Christmas,[1] with the Christmas number one being considered especially prestigious, more so than any other time of year.[2][3][4] Many of the Christmas number ones were also the best-selling song of the year. Due to the common practice of dating a chart by the date on which the week ends, the Christmas chart is dated the end of the week containing 25 December, but comprises sales for the week before that. The most recent Christmas number one single is "A Bridge over You" by the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir.[5]

History

The official UK Singles Chart began in 1952 after appearing in the New Musical Express;[6] the positions of all songs are based on week end sale totals (from Sunday to Saturday until 2015, then from Friday to Thursday).[7] Before 1987 they were released on a Tuesday due to the need for manual calculation.[8] The emergence of a serious contest for the Christmas number-one spot began in 1973 when the band Slade deliberately released "Merry Xmas Everybody" as an effort to reach the top of the charts on Christmas.[9][10]

Since 2002 the Christmas number one has been dominated by reality television contests, with the winners often heading straight to number one in the week before Christmas. This trend began when Popstars: The Rivals contestants released the top three singles on the Christmas chart.[11][nb 1] From 2005 to 2008, 2010 and 2013 to 2014, the winners of The X Factor took the number-one spot on eight occasions. In 2007, the X Factor single was so much of a prohibitive favourite for number one that bookmakers started taking bets on which song would be the "Christmas Number Two" instead.[12]

Rage Against the Machine's 1992 single "Killing in the Name" outsold Joe McElderry in 2009 following a successful Facebook campaign.[13] This made them the first group to get a Christmas number one with a download-only single, and resulted in the most download sales in a single week in UK chart history.[13] Similar campaigns in 2010 promoting acts such as Biffy Clyro, John Cage and The Trashmen were unsuccessful.[14] The following year, participants from reality television show The Choir outsold X Factor winners Little Mix and a host of social network campaigns for various novelty acts,[15][16] and in 2012, a supergroup cover of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", supporting charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster, took the accolade ahead of The X Factor's James Arthur.[17] Following the UK Charts' move to Fridays,[18] the 2015 Christmas number one was revealed on Christmas Day;[19][20] that year's chart was the first in a decade to not feature the X Factor winner's single in either first or second.[21][22]

Records

The Beatles are the only act to have four Christmas number ones, three consecutively starting from 1963. On two occasions, 1963 and 1967, they had both the Christmas number one and the number two, the only act to have achieved this. As part of two acts, George Michael repeated the feat with Band Aid and Wham! in 1984. Paul McCartney has been top eight times with various acts. Cliff Richard has spent four Christmasses at number one; two as a solo act, one with The Shadows and one as part of Band Aid II. The Spice Girls later equalled the record of having three consecutive Christmas number ones, from 1996 to 1998. Spice Girl Melanie C achieved a fourth Christmas number one as a member of The Justice Collective in 2012, which also gave Robbie Williams his third.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, which reached the number-one spot at Christmas 1975 and 1991, is the only record to have reached the top twice. "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), although "Do They Know It's Christmas?" has been Christmas number one for three generations of Band Aid.[23] The original version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is the second best selling single in UK history.[24][25]

List

Al Martino, the first person to reach the Christmas top spot
The Beatles had four Christmas number ones during the 1960s, three of which were consecutive.
Bob Geldof, creator of charity supergroup Band Aid who were Christmas number one in three different incarnations
"Bohemian Rhapsody", by Queen, reached the number one slot twice, in 1975 and 1991
Cliff Richard, who reached the number one slot at Christmas four times
The Spice Girls had three consecutive Christmas number ones in the 1990s.
Rage Against The Machine, whose song "Killing in the Name" achieved the Christmas number one in 2009, 17 years after the song's original release
Year Artist Song[26] Weeks at
No. 1[23][27][28]
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 The Beatles "I Feel Fine" 5
1965 The Beatles "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out"[nb 2] 5
1966 Tom Jones "Green, Green Grass of Home" 7
1967 The Beatles "Hello, Goodbye" 7
1968 The Scaffold "Lily the Pink" 3
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"[nb 2] 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"[29] 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"[nb 3] 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"[nb 2] 5
1992 Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You" 10
1993 Mr Blobby "Mr Blobby" 2
1994 East 17 "Stay Another Day" 5
1995 Michael Jackson "Earth Song" 6
1996 Spice Girls "2 Become 1"[31] 3
1997 Spice Girls "Too Much" 2
1998 Spice Girls "Goodbye" 1
1999 Westlife "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun"[nb 2] 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"[nb 4] 3
2011 Military Wives with Gareth Malone "Wherever You Are" 1
2012 The Justice Collective[nb 5] "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"[17] 1
2013 Sam Bailey "Skyscraper" 1
2014 Ben Haenow "Something I Need" 1
2015 Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir[5] "A Bridge over You"[nb 6] 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In addition to the two groups that were the focus of the show (Girls Aloud and One True Voice), who charted at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, the No. 3 on the chart was "Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)" by The Cheeky Girls, who had also been contestants on Popstars.[11]
  2. ^ a b c d Released as a double A-side.
  3. ^ "Mistletoe and Wine" by Cliff Richard was announced as the 1988 Christmas number one a day later than usual, on Monday 26 December.[30]
  4. ^ A cover of a Biffy Clyro song, originally titled "Many of Horror".
  5. ^ The Justice Collective was the name taken by a group of British musicians and football personalities who released the song in aid of various charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster.[17][32]
  6. ^ "A Bridge over You" is a combination of the Simon & Garfunkel song "Bridge over Troubled Water" and Coldplay's "Fix You".[5]

References

  1. ^ Douglas, Jayne (23 December 2001). "Have a chart-topping Christmas". BBC News. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Sound of silence vies to be Christmas number one". The Daily Telegraph. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  3. ^ Hewett, Emily (12 December 2011). "X Factor's Little Mix eye Christmas No.1 as bookies tip Perrie to go solo". Metro. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Shhh! It could REALLY be a silent night this Christmas... if Facebook has anything to do with it". Daily Mail. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "NHS Choir beat Bieber to UK Christmas number one". BBC News. 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  6. ^ "The story of the single". BBC News. 23 March 2001. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  7. ^ "FAQs". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  8. ^ "UK Singles Charts: History of the Charts". When We Were Kids. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  9. ^ Shennan, Paddy (13 December 2011). "Will Christmas Number One hopes 'The W Factor' (The Wombles) or 'MW Factor' (The Military Wives) beat The X Factor?". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  10. ^ Thrills, Adrian (18 December 2009). "Merry Xmas Everybody: The song that saved Slade". Daily Mail. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Girls Aloud top festive chart". BBC News. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  12. ^ Swash, Rosie (16 November 2007). "X Factor faces online Christmas chart challenge". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  13. ^ a b "Rage Against the Machine beat X Factor winner in charts". BBC News. 20 December 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  14. ^ "X Factor's Matt Cardle beats Biffy Clyro, Surfin' Bird and John Cage to UK Christmas Number One". NME. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Military Wives Choir capture Christmas number one". BBC News. 25 December 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  16. ^ Sexton, Paul (23 December 2011). "Military Wives & Italian Donkey in Race for U.K.'s No. 1 Christmas Single". Billboard. Retrieved 25 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ a b c "Hillsborough single is Christmas number one". BBC News. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  18. ^ Parry, Hannah; Carter, Claire (24 March 2015). "Chart show set to move to Friday after change in release dates". Mail Online. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  19. ^ "The Christmas No 1!, The Official Chart with Greg James - BBC Radio 1". BBC. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  20. ^ Furness, Hannah (21 December 2015). "NHS Choir in the lead in race for Christmas number one". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  21. ^ Blake, Jimmy (22 December 2015). "Christmas number one: Why the X Factor is an outsider". Newsbeat. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  22. ^ "The demise of the X Factor Christmas Number 1". The Independent. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  23. ^ a b "All the Christmas number ones". Children's BBC. 16 December 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  24. ^ "Do They Know It's Christmas?". BBC Radio 2: Sold on Song. BBC. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  25. ^ "The UK's top 50 million-selling singles". NME. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  26. ^ Myers, Justin (13 December 2013). "Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Christmas Number Ones – Singles". EveryHit. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  28. ^ "Thirty years of Christmas No 1s". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  29. ^ O'Brien, Jon (20 December 2015). "7 songs you can't believe made Christmas number one". Metro. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  30. ^ Masterton, James (20 December 2004). "Christmas Commentary from James Masterton". London: LAUNCHcast. Archived from the original on 31 December 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2011. ... This actually did happen back in 1988 when Christmas Day fell on a Sunday (the usual chart day). This resulted in the chart show being broadcast a day late on Monday 26th and with the industry agreeing that the crowning of Cliff Richard as that years Christmas Number One would take place then. ...
  31. ^ "Spice girls go to No.1". The Daily Record. Retrieved 22 December 2015 – via Highbeam Research.
  32. ^ "Paul McCartney guests on Hillsborough charity single with Robbie Williams". The Guardian. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.

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