A list of every UK Christmas No.1 single AND Christmas No. 2

By Alex Wiggan

Every year in the UK, one of the big traditions at Christmas time is seeing what song will be crowned No.1 on Christmas Day. It’s a bit of a talking point amongst us Brits, all the newspapers love to highlight all of the contenders, and some people place bets on which artist(s) will take the top spot.

Over the years, these artists have ranged from Tom Jones and The Beatles, to the Spice Girls, Ed Sheeran, and Bob the Builder. But what are all of the Christmas Day No.1s?

In this post I am running through a list of all the songs which have appeared at No.1 on Christmas Day in the UK. It doesn’t matter how many weeks the songs remained in the No.1 position, they simply had to appear at the top spot of the UK singles charts on December 25^th to claim the crown, and the following artists all achieved such festive glory!

Advertisements

A list of every UK Christmas No.1 single

Here is a list of every UK Christmas Day No.1 single from 1952 onward. As you will see, this list of Christmas No.1s runs to the present day, because even though there is less focus on music charts these days, the Christmas No.1 still matters over here.

1952: Al Martino – Here in My Heart
1953: Frankie Laine – Answer Me
1954: Winifred Atwell – Let’s Have Another Party
1955: Dickie Valentine – Christmas Alphabet
1956: Johnnie Ray – Just Walkin’ in the Rain
1957: Harry Belafonte – Mary’s Boy Child
1958: Conway Twitty – It’s Only Make Believe
1959: Emile Ford and the Checkmates – What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?
1960: Cliff Richard and The Shadows – I Love You
1961: Danny Williams – Moon River
1962: Elvis Presley – Return to Sender
1963: The Beatles – I Want to Hold Your Hand
1964: The Beatles – I Feel Fine
1965: The Beatles – Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out
1966: Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home
1967: The Beatles – Hello, Goodbye
1968: The Scaffold – Lily the Pink
1969: Rolf Harris – Two Little Boys
1970: Dave Edmunds – I Hear You Knocking
1971: Benny Hill – Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)
1972: Jimmy Osmond – Long Haired Lover from Liverpool
1973: Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
1974: Mud – Lonely This Christmas
1975: Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
1976: Johnny Mathis – When a Child Is Born (Soleado)
1977: Wings – Mull of Kintyre / Girls’ School
1978: Boney M. – Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord
1979: Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
1980: St Winifred’s School Choir – There’s No One Quite Like Grandma
1981: The Human League – Don’t You Want Me
1982: Renée and Renato – Save Your Love
1983: The Flying Pickets – Only You
1984: Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
1985: Shakin’ Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone
1986: Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite
1987: Pet Shop Boys – Always on My Mind
1988: Cliff Richard – Mistletoe and Wine
1989: Band Aid II – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
1990: Cliff Richard – Saviour’s Day
1991: Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are the Days of Our Lives
1992: Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
1993: Mr Blobby – Mr Blobby
1994: East 17 – Stay Another Day
1995: Michael Jackson – Earth Song
1996: Spice Girls – 2 Become 1
1997: Spice Girls – Too Much
1998: Spice Girls – Goodbye
1999: Westlife – I Have a Dream / Seasons in the Sun
2000: Bob the Builder – Can We Fix It?
2001: Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – Somethin’ Stupid
2002: Girls Aloud – Sounds of the Underground
2003: Michael Andrews and Gary Jules – Mad World
2004: Band Aid 20 – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
2005: Shayne Ward – That’s My Goal
2006: Leona Lewis – A Moment Like This
2007: Leon Jackson – When You Believe
2008: Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah
2009: Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name
2010: Matt Cardle – When We Collide
2011: Military Wives and Gareth Malone – Wherever You Are
2012: The Justice Collective – He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother
2013: Sam Bailey – Skyscraper
2014: Ben Haenow – Something I Need
2015: Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir – A Bridge Over You
2016: Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie – Rockabye
2017: Ed Sheeran – Perfect
2018: LadBaby – We Built This City
2019: LadBaby – I Love Sausage Rolls
2020: LadBaby – Don’t Stop Me Eaton’
2021: LadBaby ft. Ed Sheeran and Elton John – Sausage Rolls for Everyone
2022: LadBaby – Food Aid
2023: Wham! – Last Christmas

What is perhaps most interesting to note about this list of UK Christmas No.1s is that very few songs are actually Christmas related. In fact, take another look and the vast majority of the songs on the list have absolutely nothing to do with the festive season at all!

In recent years in the UK, there is often a lot of talk about the Christmas No.1s not being ‘as Christmassy as they once were’, but this is a bit of nonsense. As you can see, many of the No.1s were never ‘Christmassy’ in the first place.

Advertisements

A list of every UK Christmas No.2 single

Advertisements

While the above list covers all of the Christmas No.1s, it seems only fair to also present a list of all the songs which just missed out on the coveted Christmas position. Therefore, here is a list of every UK Christmas Day No.2 single, dating back to 1952.

1952: Jo Stafford – You Belong to Me
1953: David Whitfield – Answer Me
1954: David Whitfield – Santo Natale
1955: Bill Haley & His Comets – Rock Around the Clock
1956: Guy Mitchell – Singing the Blues
1957: Johnny Otis – Ma He’s Making Eyes at Me
1958: Lord Rockingham’s XI – Hoots Mon
1959: Adam Faith – What Do You Want?
1960: Elvis Presley – It’s Now or Never
1961: Frankie Vaughan – Tower of Strength
1962: Cliff Richard – The Next Time / Bachelor Boy
1963: The Beatles – She Loves You
1964: Petula Clark – Downtown
1965: Cliff Richard – Wind Me Up (Let Me Go)
1966: Donovan – Sunshine Superman
1967: The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour
1968: The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
1969: Kenny Rogers and The First Edition – Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town
1970: McGuinness Flint – When I’m Dead and Gone
1971: T. Rex – Jeepster
1972: Chuck Berry – My Ding-a-Ling
1973: Gary Glitter – I Love You Love Me Love
1974: Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
1975: Greg Lake – I Believe in Father Christmas
1976: Showaddywaddy – Under the Moon of Love
1977: Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band – The Floral Dance
1978: The Village People – Y.M.C.A.
1979: ABBA – I Have a Dream
1980: John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over
1981: Cliff Richard – Daddy’s Home
1982: Shakin’ Stevens – Blue Christmas EP
1983: Slade – My Oh My
1984: Wham! – Last Christmas / Everything She Wants
1985: Whitney Houston – Saving All My Love for You
1986: The Housemartins – Caravan of Love
1987: The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale of New York
1988: Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan – Especially for You
1989: Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers – Let’s Party
1990: Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice baby
1991: Diana Ross – When You Tell Me That You Love Me
1992: Michael Jackson – Heal the World
1993: Take That – Babe
1994: Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
1995: The Mike Flowers Pops – Wonderwall
1996: Dunblane – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
1997: Teletubbies – Teletubbies say ‘Eh-oh!’
1998: Chef – Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)
1999: Cliff Richard – The Millennium Prayer
2000: Westlife – What Makes a Man
2001: Gordon Haskell – How Wonderful You Are
2002: One True Voice – Sacred Trust
2003: The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)
2004: Ronan Keating featuring Yusuf Islam – Father and Son
2005: Nizlopi – JCB Song
2006: Take That – Patience
2007: Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy – What a Wonderful World
2008: Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah
2009: Joe McElderry – The Climb
2010: Rihanna featuring Drake – What’s My Name?
2011: Little Mix – Cannonball
2012: James Arthur – Impossible
2013: Pharrell Williams – Happy
2014: Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
2015: Justin Bieber – Love Yourself
2016: Rag’n’Bone Man – Human
2017: Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran – River
2018: Ava Max – Sweet but Psycho
2019: Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran & Burna Boy – Own It
2020: Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas is You
2021: Ed Sheeran & Elton John – Merry Christmas
2022: Wham! – Last Christmas
2023: Sam Ryder – You’re Christmas to Me

Advertisements

So, those are the No.2s, and yes, you did read that correctly – Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You was never a Christmas Day No.1 in the UK, despite its huge popularity – but it did appear in the No.2 position on Christmas Day twice! Wham!’s Last Christmas, which is a firm favourite in the UK, and often considered to be one of the best Christmas songs, remained a Christmas number 2 until it finally took the top spot in 2023.

It’s worth noting that in 1967, The Beatles took both the No.1 spot and the No.2 spot with Hello, Goodbye and Magical Mystery Tour respectively, and in 2017 Ed Sheeran took the No.1 spot with Perfect, while also appearing with Eminem on the No.2 song, River.

Sheeran did a similar thing in 2021, by appearing on both the No.1 and No.2 song, with Sausage Rolls for Everyone and Merry Christmas.

Advertisements

Editor/writer/Christmas No.3

Alex Wiggan

Alex is the writer and editor of the It’s A Stampede! blog, and specialises in movies, TV, comics, retro toys, and general geekery. After graduating with a degree in film & television studies from the University of Derby, Alex went on to study journalism in Sheffield, before acquiring NCTJ accreditation. Prior to creating It’s A Stampede!, Alex was a magazine editor, a senior copywriter, and a freelance writer.

—

I hope this list of UK Christmas No.1s and Christmas No.2s has proved useful to you. For more festive-posts on It’s A Stampede!, be sure to take a look at the recommended reads below.