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Hana Carter

Slade to Mariah Carey - Surprising amount the stars make from Christmas No 1 singles

As soon as we hear Mariah Carey's festive jungle on the radio or the sound of Noddy Holder crying out 'It's Christmaaaaaaas!' as we trundle through the supermarkets - we know that the festive season has officially begun.

Many of the best-loved Christmas hits date back to the seventies and eighties, with a few newer hit makers like Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis earning their place beside Christmas royalty in recent years.

But with guaranteed plays every December without fail - it begs the question: how much do the likes of Wham! and Shakin' Stevens make from their seasonal hits every Christmas?

We take a look to see just how much cash the favourite Christmas songs make the artists, production team and record labels - and some may surprise you.

Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody (1973) - £512,000

Slade performing their Christmas hit in 1973 (Redferns)

Noddy Holder, 76, will always be known for his "It's CHRRRRRRIIIISSSTMAAAASSS" line in the rock and roll Christmas hit.

The Slade single is the most-heard song in the world this time of year and was once said to earn the band a whopping £512,000 a year.

Although according to Channel 5 programme Eamonn & Ruth: A Million Pound Christmas, with Spotify plays now included, that figure is now closer to one million pounds a year.

Noddy, who apparently wakes his wife Susan Price every Christmas by shouting his Slade catchphrase: "It's Christmas", said that his 1973 number one is his "nice pension plan".

Very nice indeed.

Wham! - Last Christmas (1984) - £470,000


After George Michael passed away on Christmas Day in 2016, sales of Last Christmas sky-rocketed.

Before his passing, the previous estimate of records sold was 1.78 million, and it will be a little while longer before the current royalties from the track emerge.

But The Telegraph suggested that the figure could be as high as £470,000 a year.

The song was originally beaten to number one by Band Aid in 1984, but it very nearly reached the number one spot in 2017 after a campaign was launched in George's memory.

It peaked at number two in the chart in January 2018.

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York - £400,000

This song has a brilliant story behind it. It apparently came about after Elvis Costello bet The Pogues that they "couldn't write a Christmas song that wouldn't be slushy".

It's safe to say they won that bet with their famous lyrics that sees Kirsty and Shane MacGowen hurl insults at each other.

Kirsty was tragically killed in a boating accident (Copyright unknown)

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The Fairytale of New York brings in around £400,000 a year, according to the Daily Mail.

Kirsty was tragically killed after she was struck by a powerboat in Mexico while she was diving.

She managed to push her son Jame, who was 15 at the time, out of the way but was hit in the process.

Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas £400,000

A slightly more recent track from Mariah earns her £400,000 every year.

The track itself, which was written and recorded entirely on co-songwriter Walter Afanasieff's computer, sees £45.5 million in royalties every year.

The song is particularly popular in Japan, where it has gone Platinum twice.

The Japanese love it so much, that they invited Mariah over in July to sing the festive track.

Bing Crosby - White Christmas - £328,000

Warming festive favourite White Christmas has been covered by many major artists, but it's the version by Bing Crosby that continues to endure.

Bing's version is the world's best-selling single ( in terms of physical copies) with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide.

The track continues to find a place on the radio and Spotify playlists today - ensuring the royalties keep on rolling.

A study revealed that the single still makes an impressive £328,000 each year.

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime - £320,000

Paul McCartney usually has a very good Christmas (GC)

Recorded during the sessions for his second solo album, Wonderful Christmastime was released in 1979 and was an instant hit across Europe.

Many critics called it 'mediocre' at the time but that hasn't stopped the festive tune finding a place in listeners' hearts.

The track continues to make Paul an estimated £320,00 a year - putting the former Beatles star cumulative earnings up to £12million.

Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry - £120,000

Christmas is all about peace on earth, so Jona's anti-war track became an instant hit.

The favourite line "wish I was at home for Christmas" and the festive brass notes is one of the soundtracks to December, every year without fail.

A study found that the song rakes in £120,000 a year - and every penny goes to Jona as he wrote the lyrics, melody and backing instrumentation.

"Stop The Cavalry constitutes 50 per cent of my real income, he explained.

"The thing is, I do everything on the track. I write the lyrics and the melody, so that's all of the publishing.

"And because I'm a musician I can do all the backing track, so that's all the recording royalty. I was a one-man show. And if you can get a track associated with Christmas, you get annual regurgitation, and potential for earning every year."

Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone - £5,000

Most of the earnings of the Shakin' Stevens hit goes to the song's writer (Grab)

Shakin' Stevens singer Michael Barratt only pockets between £5,000 to £10,000 of the estimated £130,000-worth of royalties from Merry Christmas Everyone.

Most of the cash goes to the writer of the song, Bob Heatlie.

The Christmas hit re-enters the UK Singles Chart every December since 2007.

Those who missed out...

Boney M - Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord

Liz Mitchell, the lead singer of Boney M hardly sees any of her royalties (PR Handout - Free to use)

It can sometimes be easy to get swept away in the presents, food and drink and forget what Christmas is actually about.

Boney M's track is the UK's biggest-selling non-charity Christmas single, but singer Liz Mitchell reveals she was swindled out of most of the cash.

"If I was to spend time working out what the record company got, and those in that team of people around us, I would lose my mind," she said.

She has estimated that each member of the quartet only get "maybe a seventh of one per cent" of the 1.2 million sales.

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