It’s that time of year again.
The Christmas number one for 2017 has officially been announced.
Wham!’s Last Christmas re-entered the charts almost a year after George Michael’s tragic death on Christmas day last year, while Eminem’s first single in four years, River, was also a contender.
Ed Sheeran’s three – yes, three – versions of Perfect also made him a contestant for the Christmas crown.
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey’s festive All I Want For Christmas Is You soared through the charts – despite being released 13 years ago.
But it was Ed Sheeran who ended up nabbing the top spot on the charts – and the second spot, too (kind of).
The 26-year-old said it was a “dream come true” for his song, Perfect, to win the festive crown.
The Official Charts Company confirmed on Friday evening that Ed’s song, a re-recording of the version on his album ÷ (Divide), got 85,000 combined sales this week, split across 45,000 downloads and 6 million streams.
The ballad has been re-released twice this month, with one version featuring Beyoncé and another with Andrea Bocelli.
It has been certified by the BPI, achieving 1.23m combined UK sales and streams to date.
And in a message to his fans via the website, Ed said:
“Thank you very much for making Perfect Christmas Number 1. This is an actual dream come true and I’m very proud and happy.
“Thank you so much and have a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a Happy New Year.”
Eminem’s River – which also featured Ed on vocals – finished at the number two spot.
Meanwhile, a campaign launched earlier this year to get Wham!’s Last Christmas to the top spot saw the track finish at number three.
And rounding out the top few spots was Mariah Carey, whose 1994 Christmas classic All I Want For Christmas ranked fourth.
