Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits That Captivated Holiday Chart. It´s that time of year again, where we start to (sometimes begrudgingly) think about pullung those xmas decs out of the attic. The air starts to feel fresh and crisp. We have a crazy panic of when the perfect time to order the Christmas meat is. Those irritating adverts start playing on the TV and Noddy holder starts shouting at you when you start the car engine. Yes Christmas is almost upon us, we have the choice of staying in denial and being a Scrooge, or, we can embrace it and start singing all the Xmas hits we know and love.
But, which Xmas hits were the biggest selling of all time? You might be surprised at the top ten.
Lets start at number 10.
The Beatles, I Wanna Hold Your Hand:- 1963
“I want to Hold Your Hand” was released in the UK on 29th of November 1963. It was at number 1 for 5 weeks in total, and in fact took over the number 1 slot from “She Loves You”. It stayed in the UK charts for 21 weeks and sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits
Number 9:- Rockabye Clean Bandit (2016)
The song became 2016’s Christmas number one on December 23, 2016, beating the likes of Rag’n’Bone Man, Little Mix, Zara Larsson, Mariah Carey, Matt Terry and Louis Tomlinson & Steve Aoki to the Christmas number one spot. It is the first song in chart history to become Christmas number one after already being at the top of the charts for six weeks. In total, the song spent 9 weeks at the summit of the UK Singles Chart while also topping the charts in over 28 other countries.
Number 8:- Slade Merry Christmas Everybody (1973)
“Merry Xmas Everybody” is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band’s sixth and final number-one single in the UK. Earning the UK Christmas number one slot in December 1973, the song beat another Christmas-themed song, Wizzard‘s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday“, which reached fourth place. It remained in the charts for nine weeks until February 1974.
Released at the peak of the band’s popularity, “Merry Xmas Everybody” sold over a million copies upon its first release. It is Slade’s last number-one single and by far their best-selling single. It has been re-released during every decade since 1973 and has been covered by numerous artists. The single was certified double platinum by British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in December 2021. Since 2007 and the advent of downloads counting towards the UK Singles Chart, it has re-entered the charts each December. As of December 2012, it had sold 1.32 million copies in the UK.
Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits
Number 7:- I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston (1992)
Originally recorded by Dolly Parton in the 1970´s, this soundtrack to Houston´s box office smash, The Bodyguard cemented her place in history. The song reached the number one spot in the UK in 1992. Houston’s ten-week reign in the UK was the longest run at the top by a solo female artist in the history of the British singles chart, until it was overtaken by Tones & I in 2019.
In the UK, the single sold over 1,550,000 copies, becoming the tenth best-selling single of the 1990s, and was certified two times Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on January 1, 1993.
Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits
Number 6:- Merry Christmas Everyone, Shakin´Stevens (1985)
“Merry Christmas Everyone” is a festive song recorded by Welsh singer-songwriter Shakin’ Stevens. Written by Bob Heatlie and produced by Dave Edmunds, it is the fourth and to date last number one single for Shakin’ Stevens on the UK Singles Chart.
It was released on 25 November 1985 and was the Christmas number one for that year. Ever since it has been included on many top-selling Christmas collections and received frequent airplay every Christmas. In 2007, the song re-entered the UK top 30 and reached number 22 on the Christmas chart. This is because downloads are now included in the UK Singles Chart; whereas in past years this would have been impossible unless there was a physical re-release of the song. From 2007 to 2017, the song charted in the UK at peak positions 22, 36, 47, 68, 42, 46, 54, 38, 26, 17, and 10. Originally only in the chart for eight weeks, it has since amassed over 70 weeks. In December 2018 it reached No. 9 in the UK chart, its highest position since 1985. In both December 2019 and December 2020, it reached No. 6.
Number 5:- Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord Song by Boney M. (1978)
“Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” is a 1978 Christmas single by Boney M., a cover of Harry Belafonte‘s 1956 hit “Mary’s Boy Child“, put in medley with the new song “Oh My Lord”.
The single had its premiere on 2nd November 1978 on the German TV-show “Starparade” (Episode 44) which aired on ZDF. It topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks and became Christmas number one in the UK, spending eight weeks in the charts. It has sold 1.89 million units as of November 2015. It was the second single for the group in the UK’s all-time best selling singles list. The song was later included in the group’s Christmas Album, issued in 1981.
Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits
Number 4:- Don´t you want me, Human League (1981)
“Don’t You Want Me” is a song by British synth-pop group the Human League (credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, Dare (1981). The band’s best known and most commercially successful song, it was the best selling UK single of 1981, that year’s Christmas number one, and has since sold over 1,560,000 copies in the UK, making it the 23rd-most successful single in UK Singles Chart history.
Number 3:- Bohemian Rhapsody (1975/1991)
“Bohemian Rhapsody” topped the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks (plus another five weeks following Mercury’s death in 1991) and remains the UK’s third best-selling single of all time. Following the release of the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, it became the most streamed song from the 20th century. The song became the 1975 UK Christmas number one, holding the top position for nine weeks. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was the first song ever to get to number one in the UK twice with the same version, and is also the only single to have been Christmas number one twice with the same version. The second was upon its re-release (as a double A-side single with “These Are the Days of Our Lives“) in 1991, staying at number one for five weeks. The re-released version sold 673,000 copies in 1991 in the UK.
Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits
Number 2:- Perfect, Ed Sheeran (2017)
“Perfect” became the UK Christmas number-one song for 2017, originally released in August 2017 and reaching number 4, the second version of the single, titled “Perfect Duet”, with American singer Beyoncé, was released on 1 December 2017. Another duet with Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, titled “Perfect Symphony”, was released on 15 December 2017. The song and its official music video received three nominations at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards.
Discover the Ultimate List: Top 10 Best-Selling UK Christmas Number 1 Hits
AND FINALLY AT NUMBER 1…….. DRUMROLL PLEASE………….
DO THEY KNOW ITS CHRISTMAS, BAND AID (1984)
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of popular British and Irish musical acts. It was recorded in a single day at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, in November 1984.
“Do They Know It’s Christmas” was released in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1984. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed there for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one. It sold a million copies in the first week, becoming the fastest-selling single in UK chart history; it held this title until 1997, when it was overtaken by Elton John‘s “Candle in the Wind 1997“. UK sales passed three million on the last day of 1984.
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was rerecorded and rereleased in 1989, 2004 and 2014. The 1989 and 2004 versions also raised funds for famine relief, while the 2014 version raised funds for the Ebola crisis in West Africa. All three reached number one in the UK, and the 1989 and 2004 versions became Christmas number ones. The 2004 version sold 1.8 million copies.
So there we have it, the current Top Ten UK Xmas Number 1´s of ALL TIME and not a single sausage roll in sight!
So all thats left to say is………. IT´S CHRRRRIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSTTTTTTMMMMAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!!!!!
