The highly-anticipated Christmas 2022 number one single has been revealed.
It was a battle between social media stars LadBaby with their single Food Aid, Wham! with classic Last Christmas and YouTubers Sidemen with Christmas Drillings. But it was LadBaby who secured the top spot on Friday (December 23), with their rework of Band Aid's 1984 hit Do They Know It's Christmas?
Husband and wife duo Mark and Roxanne Hoyle have become the first act in history to secure five official Christmas number one singles. Food Aid, which features money-saving expert Martin Lewis, is fastest-selling single of 2022 to date, the Official Charts Company confirmed.
Read more: Goodbye for now! Manchester Christmas Markets taken down as traders head home
Profits from the single will be split equally between food bank charity The Trussell Trust and the Band Aid Trust. LadBaby now break a long-held chart record set by The Beatles, after equalling their total of four Christmas number ones last year.
The Beatles earned their four Christmas Number 1s non-consecutively in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967. Prior to Food Aid, LadBaby enjoyed festive chart-toppers with We Built This City (2018), I Love Sausage Rolls (2019), Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ (2020) and last year’s Ed Sheeran and Elton John collaboration Sausage Rolls For Everyone (2021).
Celebrating their historic achievement, LadBaby told OfficialCharts.com: “I can’t quite believe it! We’re Number 1! The charity has made it five years in a row. How have we done this again? We want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us for the last five years. A massive apology to The Beatles, and to all The Beatles’ fans…I’m sorry! The charity wins. The Trussell Trust gets Christmas Number 1 again!
“Thank you to all the people who have downloaded, all the people who believed in us and brought a bit of Christmas magic. We love you all. Yes mate!”
Charting at number two was Wham! with the much-loved Last Christmas. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s yuletide classic is the most-streamed track of the week in the UK, racking up 12.9 million plays.
YouTube supergroup Sidemen put in a passionate promotional campaign for their own festive single Christmas Drillings featuring JME, and it paid off. The track, released in aid of food poverty charity FareShare, was this week’s highest climber, vaulting a staggering 38 places to Number 3. It's KSI, Vik and Tobi’s first UK Top 10 single as a group.
Mariah Carey followed with All I Want For Christmas Is You coming in at number four, with Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s modern classic Merry Christmas rounding off the Christmas top five.
Meanwhile, RAYE & 070 Shake’s Escapism became the highest-charting non-Christmas song this week at number six. Another new entry at number seven was The K*nts with their anarchic political anthem F*ck The Tories, while Central Cee’s surprise year-end single Let Go became his fifth Top 10 hit to date, charting at number 10.
Read next:
The places in Greater Manchester offering a free hot meal for those in need this Christmas
Christmas Eve travel warning as train passengers told only to travel if 'absolutely necessary'
Die Hard quiz: How well do you know the ultimate Christmas film?
Love Actually quiz: How well do you know the classic Christmas film?
