BBC Radio 2 to reveal the UK's Official Top 40 Most Streamed Christmas Number 1s

Which of the UK's Christmas Number 1s have made the all-time streaming list? Take a look now.
most-streamed-number-1s-christmas.jpg

It's December, which means the Christmas season has officially kicked off!

To mark the occasion, BBC Radio 2's Steve Wright is revealing the Top 40 Most Streamed Christmas Number 1s of all time, compiled exclusively by the Official Charts Company for Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

Over the past 70 years, the race for the coveted Christmas Number 1 spot has seen one-off novelty acts triumph over established superstars, ground-breaking charity hits, reality TV newbies instantly making their mark, and (on occasion) actual festive songs taking the top spot.

The new streaming Top 40 has been compiled based on the number of times each song has been streamed, all year round, since records began.

Steve says, “Who would have thought we’d be crowning Ed Sheeran’s Perfect as the Most Streamed Christmas Number 1 of all time? It’s a brilliant song, but I was sure Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody would take the title. I would never have guessed that Perfect has been streamed almost twice as many times as Freddie and the boys' classic 1975 hit!

"And I didn’t expect Shakin’ Stevens would be ahead of Band Aid either. It just goes to show how fascinating it is to delve into a list like this. Listen on BBC Sounds now or tune into the show on Radio 2 this Christmas Day. It’s the ultimate chart to mark the holiday season!”

Martin Talbot, Official Charts Chief Executive, adds, “We are delighted to have partnered with Radio 2 to create what will be the ultimate showcase of the nation’s favourite Official Christmas Number 1s – even if some of them are not particularly Christmassy! Lists like this are a fascinating reminder that the great British public know what they like, even if their choices are not always the most predictable.”

Take a look at every Christmas Number 1 ever

This November we celebrated 70 years of massive hits on the Official Singles Chart, including of course some unforgettable Christmas Number 1s, many of which dominate all-time sales lists; but this chart shows which of the Christmas Number 1s since 1952 the nation still want to hear the most in the modern day. The Top 40 songs have a combined total of more than 2.25 billion streams.

Across the songs that Steve will feature in this three-hour special, none of the Christmas chart-toppers between 1952 and 1961 have made the list, and 80% of the final list have nothing to do with Christmas, including the Top 3(!). On top of this, only six of the Top 40 actually have the word 'Christmas' in the lyrics.

Mull Of Kintyre by Wings, despite being the fourth best-selling single of all time in the UK, hasn't cracked the Top 40 most streamed Christmas Number 1s - though five other songs co-written by Paul McCartney are in the chart. Five former winners of The X Factor earn a place in the Top 40.

Steve Wright counts down the Top 40 chart in Most Streamed Christmas Number 1s now on BBC Sounds here, or tune into Radio 2 on Christmas Day (4-7pm).

The UK's Official Top 40 most-streamed Christmas Number 1s

POS TITLE ARTIST YEAR
1 PERFECT ED SHEERAN 2017
2 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY QUEEN 1975 & 1991
3 ROCKABYE CLEAN BANDIT 2016
4 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE SHAKIN' STEVENS 1985
5 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? BAND AID 1984
6 MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY SLADE 1973
7 DON'T YOU WANT ME HUMAN LEAGUE 1981
8 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU WHITNEY HOUSTON 1992
9 KILLING IN THE NAME RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE 2009
10 MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD BONEY M 1978
11 STAY ANOTHER DAY EAST 17 1994
12 ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PART 2) PINK FLOYD 1979
13 LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS MUD 1974
14 HALLELUJAH ALEXANDRA BURKE 2008
15 MISTLETOE AND WINE CLIFF RICHARD 1988
16 ALWAYS ON MY MIND PET SHOP BOYS 1987
17 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND BEATLES 1963
18 SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND GIRLS ALOUD 2002
19 MAD WORLD MICHAEL ANDREWS & GARY JULES 2003
20 2 BECOME 1 SPICE GIRLS 1996
21 SOMETHING I NEED BEN HAENOW 2014
22 RETURN TO SENDER ELVIS PRESLEY 1962
23 WHEN A CHILD IS BORN (SOLEADO) JOHNNY MATHIS 1976
24 THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES QUEEN 1991
25 EARTH SONG MICHAEL JACKSON 1995
26 DAY TRIPPER BEATLES 1965
27 GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME TOM JONES 1966
28 A MOMENT LIKE THIS LEONA LEWIS 2006
29 HELLO, GOODBYE BEATLES 1967
30 REET PETITE JACKIE WILSON 1986
31 WE CAN WORK IT OUT BEATLES 1965
32 I FEEL FINE BEATLES 1964
33 SOMETHIN' STUPID ROBBIE WILLIAMS & NICOLE KIDMAN 2001
34 THAT'S MY GOAL SHAYNE WARD 2005
35 SEASONS IN THE SUN WESTLIFE 1999
36 WHEN WE COLLIDE MATT CARDLE 2010
37 TOO MUCH SPICE GIRLS 1997
38 GOODBYE SPICE GIRLS 1998
39 ONLY YOU FLYING PICKETS 1983
40 SAVIOUR'S DAY CLIFF RICHARD 1990

©2022 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Keep up to date with the latest Christmas Number 1 news here

Join the conversation by joining the Official Charts community and dropping comment.

Already registered?

Log in

No account?

Register

O

Oliverx

0

Ed may be at the top but the quality of his music certainly doesn't mirror that.

avatar

Dayv Morris

0

Saviour's day is an underrated gem

avatar

Bengy

0

Wot! No Ladbaby?

avatar

Rob Parkinson

0

Nobody actually listens to it, they just waste money that they could have donated directly to charity to get a download that they never listen to in which a tiny proportion ends up with the charity

avatar

🧡 oliviasnoodles 🍜

2

shouldn’t be a surprise. their music tanks on streaming because “it’s all for charity”, and charity songs only really do well on sales. i’ve not met a single person unironically liking their garbage, they just buy the song to help out when they could just directly donate to charity. (, they could even give more than 99p if they directly donate)

also, ladbaby sicken me to the core. they put out excruciating “music” to raise money for food banks when they’re openly conservative, and the tory party are the reason food banks exist in the first place.

avatar

🧡 oliviasnoodles 🍜

2

oh my god, of course it’s the busker. he literally pays to be at the top of streaming playlists. granted, perfect is far from the worst song he’s ever done, but the fact he is above so many quality tunes (michael jackson is far too low!) doesn’t surprise me anymore, he’ll do anything to get those streams even if it involves cutting off a finger. merry christmas everyone!

avatar

Sarah Marsten

1

Of course he's going to be higher than Michael Jackson. Ed Sheeran is an artist of the modern era and more kid's like his music than Michael Jackson's, hence the reason he's above the majority.

avatar

Zimowski

0

Michael Jackson did even more, like changing skin colour and sleeping with children and it didn't help him at all ;)