Wham! secured the final number one single of 2022 after festive hit Last Christmas returned to the summit of the Official Charts.
The iconic Christmas song, performed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, was first released in 1984 and once held the record as the best-selling single never to have hit number one in the UK after being kept at number two by Band Aid's Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Last Christmas finally became a number one hit single when it took top spot on New Year's Day in 2021 - a chart record for the longest time a track has taken to top the singles chart, which Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill eclipsed in June this year.
The Official Charts Company said the song reached top billing for the second time this year after selling more than 79,000 units and being the UK's most-streamed track of the week.
Ridgeley hailed the success of the song with a post on Twitter, which read: "Crikey, twice in the same month! You wait 36 years for a number one and then they come like buses!
"I’m delighted WHAM!’s 'Last Christmas' has hit the Number 1 spot on the UK @officialcharts for a second time in 2022! Thank you all, what a wonderful way to end the year."
Wham! pipped Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, which climbed back up the charts to number two, to the summit while Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John’s Merry Christmas hit number three.
Festive classic Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, which was released in 1958 by Brenda Lee, took fourth spot in the charts, while Stomzy's Firebabe was the highest-charting non-Christmas song and rounded off the top five.
Last week, social media star LadBaby, real name Mark Hoyle and his wife Roxanne – known as LadBaby Mum, made chart history by securing the Christmas number one for a fifth consecutive year.
They claimed the top spot with their single Food Aid, which reworks the Band Aid song Do They Know It’s Christmas? with lyrics about the cost-of-living crisis and vocals from MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis.
The final album chart of 2022 saw Michael Buble's Christmas take the honours as number one, with Taylor Swift slipping to number two with her 10th studio album Midnights after being Christmas number one last week.
American singer SZA reached number three with SOS, Ed Sheeran's Equals climbed to fourth and Elton John's greatest hits album Diamonds completed the top five.
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