'Last Christmas' finally tops UK charts 36 years after release
Some songs are indeed timeless! After a mind-boggling 36 years of its release, Last Christmas has finally hit the numero uno spot on UK music charts. This song by Wham! was made public in 1984 but became the topmost just this year. This feat was achieved due to the Christmas-time streaming trends that toppled LadBaby's Don't Stop Me Eating from the top rank.
'Last Christmas' had lost to Band Aid's song in 1984
Records show that the song was streamed 9.2 million times last week. The reason why the rendition by the legendary UK pop duo couldn't top the charts back then was because of Do They Know It's Christmas? It was a single by Band Aid, a charity supergroup of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, which was created in response to the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia.
George Michael's family ecstatic, recording royalties will go to charity
George Michael's, one-half of Wham!, family said, "After such a difficult 2020 for all of us and at the time of year, that was so special to George we're so grateful to everyone who made this possible and know how much it would have meant to him." They added that his recording royalties will go to charity, "as he did for so many years."
Song of betrayal: 'Last Christmas' isn't about Christmas at all
Though the song is a Christmas favorite, it's actually not about the occasion. Last Christmas, which is about heartbreak, received the Christmas tag just because of its hook line. Betrayal rules the up-tempo song, which had sold over 2 million copies. Thirty-two years after this song released, Michael had died of dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver on Christmas Day 2016.
Wham!'s Andrew Ridgeley shares how the song was born
After achieving this, the other half of Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley shared the story behind the legendary single. "It's a fitting tribute to George's songwriting genius and one of which he would have been immensely proud and utterly thrilled," Ridgeley, 57, said, adding how Michael's sudden creative rush during a family gathering helped compose its melody in an hour. Well, that's how masterpieces are born!
