Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Festive spirit is in the air as Last Christmas by Wham! has been named the top song on the BBC Radio One’s official charts ... a record-breaking 39 years after it was first released.
Wham!, the duo comprising singer-songwriter George Micheal and instrumentalist Andrew Ridgeley, was formed in Bushey, UK in 1981. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s.
Last Christmas was originally released by Wham! in December 1984. The song is about a failed relationship and later coming face-to-face with a former love.
At the time, it spent five consecutive weeks at the number two spot on the UK Singles Chart.
Andrew revealed that he and George were inspired to write the song after visiting George’s parents.
Andrew is the surviving member of Wham! after George died on Christmas Day in 2016.
Wham!’s official account shared a heart-warming reaction to the latest news. It read, “George would be beside himself, after all these tears, to finally attain the Christmas number one spot.”
Andrew went on to say it felt like a ‘mission accomplished’, adding that George wrote the song with the intention of reaching the milestone.
Last Christmas was streamed more than 13.3 million times over the past seven days, according to Official Charts Company data, making it the most streamed Christmas No.1 ever during the festive week.
The song has been covered by many artists, including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Jimmy Eat World and the Backstreet Boys.
