Key findings include:
- Ed Sheeran’s 2017 hit “Perfect” is the most successful Christmas number 1 of the last 20 years, with 3 billion streams and almost £11m in estimated royalties!
- The 2009 chart battle between Joe McElderry and Rage Against the Machine that saw “Killing in the Name” win Christmas number 1 ranks as the fourth most successful.
- Mariah Carey has the most popular Christmas song, with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” with 1.8 billion streams and estimated royalties of £6.5m!
Top 10 most successful UK Christmas number 1’s –
GIGAcalculator can reveal that despite not being about Christmas, Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” is the most successful Christmas number 1 of the last 20 years. In 2017, “Perfect” was the UK’s Christmas number 1 and stayed there for an impressive 6 weeks, racking up over 3 billion streams in 7 years; the singer has accumulated an estimated £10.9m in Spotify royalties for the one track.
The second most successful UK Christmas number 1 is Clean Bandit’s “Rockabye” featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie. Spending a sensational 9 weeks at number 1, “Rockabye” has over 1.6 billion streams, suggesting £5.5m in estimated Spotify royalties.
With 39 years in the making, in third is Wham’s “Last Christmas” that finally secured Christmas Number 1 just last year in 2023 for the first time in the song’s lifetime, completing the longest journey ever to Christmas number 1.“Last Christmas” has 1.5 billion streams, suggesting Spotify royalties of £5.4m.
Many remember that iconic fan-led campaign that ended in Rage Against The Machine beating X Factor winner Joe McElderry to 2009’s Christmas Number 1 – “Killing in the Name” ranks as the fourth most successful Christmaschart topper, with 982 million streams and estimated royalties of £3.3m. In fifth is X Factor’s 2008 winner, Alexandra Burke, with her cover of “Hallelujah”
Top 10 most popular Christmas tracks –
It should come as no surprise the queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey has the most popular Christmas track, with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” accumulating over 1.8 billion streams over the years and suggesting an estimated £6.5m in Spotify royalties.
In spite of #Whamageddon – “Last Christmas” ranks second with 1.5 billion streams and interestingly, Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” places third, with over 1 billion streams (and £3.7m estimated Spotify royalties).
Click this link to discover more about the research behind this article.
