If you think Wham’s Last Christmas is a surefire bet for a third consecutive Christmas number one in 2025 – think again.
The 1984 classic from George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley claimed the festive top spot in 2023 and 2024, but this year they’ve faced their stiffest competition yet, from Kylie Minogue, Together for Palestine, and Mariah Carey.
Kylie’s brand new single XMAS entered the top 20 at number 16 last week and is currently top of the tree, if the midweek chart update is anything to go by. The question of whether she can hold on will only be confirmed on BBC Radio One on Friday afternoon, from 3pm.
To get the inside track on this year’s race to be top of the UK charts on December 25, Metro spoke to the man behind it all – Martin Talbot, the CEO of the Official Charts Company (OCC).
Martin joined the OCC in 2007 and was named as CEO in 2013 – a position he’s held for 12 years now, during a period of dramatic change for one of Britain’s best-loved cultural institutions.
As it pertains to the Christmas number one race, Martin has watched The X Factor’s dominance of the festive charts come and go, he’s watched the five-year run of LadBaby begin and end, and now he’s got a warning about the future for Wham’s 1984 classic.
‘The success of artists like Kylie this year gives hope and confidence to other artists with brand new Christmas songs that they can produce big number ones even when there are these big juggernauts [to contend with].’
He continued: ‘It’s inevitable that Christmas classics come back into the charts. However, Kylie’s put herself out there this year – it says a lot about how important the cultural moment is. You celebrate Christmas, you get the big record. Lots of artists recognise that people love Christmas songs.’
A worry expressed by some pop fans is that the Christmas charts aren’t quite the centre of attention as they once were – and that, in the age of streaming, the sense of tension and competition has been replaced by a sense of inevitability and anticlimax. But Martin’s having none of that.
‘There have always been peaks and troughs and debates about the health of the race for Christmas number one. First it was X Factor, then LadBaby – before them it was the Spice Girls who did three in a row in the 1990s.
‘Back in the 80s, people complained about all those “terrible and cheesy” hits [we all love now]. In the 70s, you had loads of credible acts making “naff” songs. It always evolves and changes and it always will. Kylie is a brilliant example of that.’
He continued: ‘Kylie is really giving them a run for their money, which is fantastic, breathing new life into this period for the charts. It’s positive to see artists trying to create the Christmas classics of tomorrow.’
The battle between Kylie and Wham has meant that, while the rest of us are doing our last minute shopping, wrapping presents and writing cards, and beginning to wind down for the year at work, the staff at the OCC are having their busiest time of the year.
‘It is a bit of a madhouse. Not least because there’s been a really competitive race this week, which has been great to see. We all gear up for this week because it’s always the most exciting race, and the one that means the most to the most people.
Who would you like to win 2025's Christmas number 1?
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Kylie Minogue - we need something fresh
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Wham! - it's still a classic
‘If somebody pulls off a surprise and manages to beat one of the classics, then that’s really great news for all of us. It’s very exciting. But while the rest of the industry begins to power down, we’re staying through to the bitter end.’
Did Martin have a preference during the race this year? Last Christmas is a cosy, wintry classic, but surely it’s time for Kylie Minogue, of all people, to finally land her first solo Christmas number one?
‘I would never want to advocate one record over another – but Wham have been number one on Christmas Day for a couple of years now, so it would be great to have a new record [that isn’t a cover] topping the Christmas chart for the first time in a while.’
The last completely original brand new song to be Christmas number one was Ed Sheeran’s Perfect in 2017. Since then it’s been LadBaby’s sausage roll covers and two years of Wham. For an original song that’s also Christmas-themed, though, you’d have to go back 35 years to 1990 for Sir Cliff Richard’s religious hit Saviour’s Day.
Martin hopes the wait for another proper Christmas number one won’t be quite so long: ‘Some really big artists have thrown their hat into the ring in recent years – Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Elton John and Ed Sheeran, and Tom Grennan. That, to me, is a recognition by all those big acts that they really want to go for it.
‘This week’s chart should have Kelly Clarkson [too]. Sam Fender and Olivia Dean have even got a non-Christmas song that’s still called Rein Me In. Kylie’s new one will be played at parties for years to come, particularly if it claims the crown this year.’
Kylie and Wham’s tussle this week may go down in history as one of the tightest and hotly-contested races for Christmas number one in some time, but Martin’s favourite comes from 16 years ago: Rage Against the Machine triumphed over X Factor winner Joe McElderrey to bring an entire era of the UK charts to a dramatic conclusion.
‘It’s the most enormous race I’ve ever been part of. They both sold more than 500,000 copies in a week. But more than anything – you could not call it. Nobody believed Rage had a chance before the week started, but after a couple of days they were close.’
Martin continued: ‘There was this surge of interest on social media, which is one of the first times that happened. It came out of nowhere. As soon as they believed they could do it, everyone else believed it too – that made a huge difference. To see it happen in front of us was amazing.’
Now it remains to be seen whether the Christmas number one race between Kylie and Wham will be remembered just as fondly in the years to come.
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