List of Christmas number one singles (UK)
This is a list of Christmas number one singles in the United Kingdom. Christmas number one singles are those that are at the top of the UK Singles Chart on the week before Christmas Day. The official UK Singles Chart began in 1952, after appearing in the New Musical Express.[1] The positions of all songs are based on week end sale totals, from Sunday to Saturday,[2] but pre-1987 they were released on a Tuesday due to the need for manual calculation.[3]
The Beatles are the only artist to have four number ones, three consecutively starting from 1963. Cliff Richard also spent four Christmases at the top; two with his own songs, one with The Shadows and one as a part of Band Aid 2. Paul McCartney has been top seven times; four times with The Beatles, and once each with Wings, Band Aid and Band Aid 20. The Spice Girls equalled the record of having three consecutive Christmas number ones, from 1996 to 1998. "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 entirely unrelated 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.[4] The (original) Band Aid version of this song is the second best selling single in UK history.[5] Many of the Christmas number ones were also the best-selling song of the year.[6]
From 2005 to 2008, the winners of the talent competition The X Factor took the number one spot — beginning with Shayne Ward in 2005, followed by Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke. In 2007, bookmakers started taking bets on who Christmas Number Two would be instead. The trend was broken in 2009 when a campaign started on social networking website Facebook to end The X Factor's sequence and get Rage Against the Machine's 1992 single "Killing in the Name" to number one, was successful.[7] The anti-corporate campaign made them the first group to get a Christmas number one with a download-only single, and was the most download sales in a single week ever in UK charts.[7]
List
| Year | Artist | Song | Weeks at #1[4][8][9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 & The Checkmates | "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" | 6 |
| 1960 | Cliff Richard & 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" | 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" | 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" | 2 |
| 1994 | East 17 | "Stay Another Day" | 5 |
| 1995 | Michael Jackson | "Earth Song" | 6 |
| 1996 | Spice Girls | "2 Become 1" | 3 |
| 1997 | Spice Girls | "Too Much" | 2 |
| 1998 | Spice Girls | "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 & Nicole Kidman | "Somethin' Stupid" | 3 |
| 2002 | Girls Aloud | "Sound of the Underground" | 4 |
| 2003 | Michael Andrews & 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 |
See also
- Christmas number-two singles in the UK
- List of Christmas number one singles (Ireland)
References
- ↑ "The story of the single". BBC. 2001-03-23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/1234212.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ↑ "FAQ". The Official UK Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/faq.php#howcompiled. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ↑ "UK Singles Charts: History of the Charts". When We Were Kids. http://www.wwwk.co.uk/music/hit-singles/singles-chart-story.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "All the Christmas number ones". CBBC. 2002-12-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/music/newsid_2580000/2580729.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ↑ "Record-Breakers and Trivia". EveryHit. http://www.everyhit.com/record4.html. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ↑ "UK Top 100 Best Selling Singles". UK Charts. http://ukcharts.20m.com/bestsell.html. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Rage Against the Machine beat X Factor winner in charts". BBC News. 2009-12-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8423340.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ "Christmas Number Ones : Singles". EveryHit. http://www.everyhit.com/christmasnumber1.html. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ↑ "Thirty years of Christmas No 1s". London: The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/christmas2002/story/0,,864869,00.html. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
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