Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael of Wham! performing in 1984 Although few and far between, there are certain Christmas songs that we really don’t mind hearing on a loop every Yuletide – and Wham!’s Last Christmas is up there with Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You in that respect. With its universal theme of lost love combined with that instantly recognisable – and deceptively simple – melody written by the late, great George Michael (something his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley has described as “musical alchemy”), it’s no surprise that Last Christmas has been a feature of the festive chart pretty much every year since its original release in 1984. After finally reaching number one for the first time in 2021, Last Christmas made chart history in 2024 , which coincided with its 40th anniversary. But if you thought you knew everything there was to know about the festive classic after hearing it for the 20,000th time, think again... George Michael wrote Last Christmas in his childhood bedroom during a visit to his parents’ house with his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley “We’d had a bite to eat and were sitting together relaxing with the television on in the background when, almost unnoticed, George disappeared upstairs for an hour or so,” Andrew later recalled. “When he came back down, such was his excitement, it was as if he had discovered gold which, in a sense, he had. “He played me the introduction and the beguiling, wistful chorus melody to Last Christmas. It was a moment of wonder.” Upon its initial release, the song was a double A-side It was paired with Everything She Wants, aka The Greatest Wham! Song Of All Time (this is not up for debate) Andrew Ridgley describes Last Christmas as “musical alchemy” “[George] distilled the essence of Christmas into music. Adding a lyric which told the tale of betrayed love was a masterstroke and, as he did so often, he touched hearts,” Andrew said. George wrote, produced and played every single instrument on the track Oh and he sang it too, obvs. The song was recorded at the height of summer in August 1984 George plastered the studio in Christmas decorations to set the mood for the recording session. The video marked the last time in his life that George was filmed… …without a beard. Upon its original release in 1984 it was kept off the top spot by another song featuring George Michael Charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band Aid might have bagged the top spot, but Last Christmas still managed five weeks at number two. Wham! also donated all proceeds from the sale of the song to Band Aid’s Ethiopian famine appeal. Last Christmas has been a mainstay of the UK singles chart over the last five decades In the years since its original 1984 release, the song has entered the UK top 40 on 15 occasions, reaching the top 10 no less than 6 times The song took 36 years to reach number one on the UK singles chart It finally reached the top spot on New Year’s Day in 2021. Before reaching the summit in 2021, Last Christmas held an unenviable chart record Thanks to its boosted streams every festive season, Last Christmas previously had the title of the highest-selling single in the UK never to reach number one. As of 2021, that record is now held by Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera. Last Christmas now has a much more coveted chart title Last Christmas has reached number one multiple times since it first reached the top spot in 2021, including becoming Christmas number one in 2023. The following year, which marked its 40th anniversary, the track did it again, becoming the first song in UK chart history to become Christmas number one in two consecutive years . George was sued for plagiarism for the alleged similarities between Last Christmas and the pop classic Can’t Smile Without You The case was dismissed when a musicologist presented 60-odd songs from the past century that had a comparable chord sequence and melody. In Germany, the song is the most successful Christmas single of all time It has spent 153 weeks on the German Singles Chart and has charted every year since 1997. The song has been covered by many different artists, and is a favourite of pop girls in particular, including Taylor Swift... ...Ariana Grande... ...Miley Cyrus... ...Gwen Stefani... ...Rita Ora... ...Carly Rae Jepsen... ...Cascada... ...Billie Piper... ...and Whigfield But the award for The Version Nobody Asked For goes to this musical monstrosity… Last Christmas was also the inspiration for the 2019 festive film of the same name George collaborated with actor Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the screenplay, on the film’s concept before his death in 2016. The movie stars Emilia Clarke, best known for playing Daenerys in Game Of Thrones, alongside Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding. And finally, an Austrian DJ once played the song for four hours non-stop on his radio show Joe Kohlhofer told listeners in December 2015 that he felt they weren’t in the Christmas spirit and so barricaded himself into the studio, locking out his co-host and producer and played the song on a loop. He eventually stopped only after his four-year-old daughter was put on the line. She told her father that she didn’t like the song. Related... 24 Things You Didn’t Know About Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You 33 Things You Never Knew About Love Actually, Actually 10 Nostalgic BBC Christmas Idents That Will Give You A Festive Glow